


The Journey

by Marezelle



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Airbending & Airbenders, Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Romance, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-05-28 21:13:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 43,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6345373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marezelle/pseuds/Marezelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Avatar Korra’s decision to open the spirit portals may have given Opal airbending, but it was Opal’s own choice to leave her only life behind and embark on a journey to discover what the future would bring. A terrible choice to have to make, certainly, and one that a considerable part of her resented. But she had made it, and now all she could do was hope that it would work out for the best.</p><p>Set in a world where the Air Nomads just barely survived the genocide, and modern airbenders live isolated lives in the Air Temples.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Terrible Choice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ziraseal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziraseal/gifts).



The wind was cold this high up in the sky. That was not what was bothering her, however. What Opal wished was that it was dark, in order to hide the tears sliding down her face. But she supposed Monk Tenzin did not care whether or not she was crying. He was on the sky bison’s head, steering as they flew through the clouds toward her new home.

So it didn’t really matter that it was sunny out. He did not turn around to check on her.

This had all begun with a decision.

Some months prior, Avatar Korra had chosen to leave the spirit portals at the North and South poles open. The result of this was that the barrier between the physical world and the spirit world was broken, and spirits now lived alongside humans for the first time in ten millennia. But one other unintended result, something no one could have predicted, also came because of this decision—new airbenders began appearing across the globe not two weeks after Harmonic Convergence.

Not people who had been _born_ airbenders, like the few hundred people who still resided at two of the ancient air temples _._ No, people who had been nonbenders their entire lives suddenly manifested the ability to airbend. Opal Beifong was one such person. There were others in Zaofu, too, although no one whom Opal knew personally. It had shocked her, the first time she airbent. All she’d been doing was walking to the dining room for breakfast. Her twin brothers Wei and Wing raced past her, inadvertently knocking her out of their way, and in her attempt to cushion her fall she’d bent a small blast of wind.

As the surprise wore off the Beifong family was overjoyed. Their own airbender! Once the news settled, Suyin made a few calls and learned Monk Tenzin was travelling by bison to meet the new airbenders. She invited him to Zaofu to be welcomed with high honor. Everyone in the city was excited. For several days the Beifong dome was abuzz with preparations to welcome the airbending master with an extravagant vegetarian dinner. To pass the time Opal spent the afternoons chatting politely with the other Zaofu citizens who had also become airbenders. Mostly they compared what they’d already discovered they could do with their bending. Opal could get a small breeze going, but the man who tended the flower shop near the center of the city could produce a fairly reputable air kick. All of it amazed her, and excited her.

Finally the day came when Tenzin arrived. All of Opal’s family was present to welcome him, and Tenzin was received graciously by everyone he met. He was a tall, imposing figure, his robes a dull yellow and orange, his expression almost emotionless. This was not a man Opal could imagine smiling or laughing easily. But Suyin had grown up with him back in Republic City, and she spoke amiably to him over dinner. She reminisced about their childhood with laughter. Tenzin was far less genial, by comparison.

Opal stayed quiet and ate her food, watching the others talk. She wondered what would happen next and was excited to find out. It felt like something big was about to happen, something important. She did not fear what might happen to her, because she’d never before had anything to fear. Her life in Zaofu was a privilege, a luxury, and she knew it. But her innocent humility had done nothing to prepare her for what was to come.

After dinner they retired to Suyin’s study. Opal sat between her parents on one sofa, Monk Tenzin on the other. And then he told them the consensus the Air Nation had agreed upon immediately following the first reports of new airbenders. They would welcome no new airbender unless the person chose to join the Air Nation, and, by extension, turned their back on the rest of the world.

It felt as if all of the air had been sucked from the room. Opal’s parents begged for there to be another option, but Tenzin held firm. Furthermore, he was leaving in the morning. Opal had to make her choice before dawn. Su pleaded for an exception to be made. Apparently there was a precedent, even—Tenzin had trained the Avatar in the Southern Water Tribe the previous year. But Opal was no Avatar, and the Air Nation would not budge. It was the same rule by which their entire nation lived, after all. Their culture was an isolated one, a tradition which his very presence in their home was violating. So would she join, or would she stay behind?

 

She said yes. She felt in her heart that she had to, that there was no other path forward.

 

It was possible that Opal would never see her family again.

Her parents’ faces, tearful and hurt by her leaving them, danced behind her eyelids. She tried not to think of it, and instead chose to focus on the wind ruffling her hair.

***

The Eastern Air Temple loomed ahead of them, built atop three mountains. Looping bridges connected each part of the temple to one another, signifying elegance as well as strength. The temple’s many buildings were connected by paths, stairs, and courtyards, with trees and small gardens interspersed between them. The late afternoon sun lit up the gleaming white stone and bright blue roofs, and the gold leaf trim glittered as they approached.

It was, to say the least, majestic.

This was a sight Opal assumed she would never see, and yet here she was. Despite her unease, Opal couldn’t help but feel awed by the beauty of the temple and of the mountains. Tenzin said nothing as he steered the bison down, eventually landing in the middle of an open yard paved with stone on the middle mountain.

At first Opal could only note that it was quiet. There were not many people strolling about this part of the temple, but a few came toward them. Tenzin calmly bent himself to the ground and went to greet them. Opal settled for sliding unceremoniously down the bison’s side. It huffed in response, and Opal quickly hurried after Tenzin.

The two women stood at the edge of the yard, waiting. They were dressed in nearly identical sets of robes, several layers of yellow and orange. Both wore necklaces of wooden beads with the symbol for air carved into them. They also had the same blue arrows on their foreheads that Tenzin did.

As Tenzin and Opal approached them, they bowed. Tenzin bowed back immediately in response. “Welcome, Monk Tenzin,” said the woman on the left. She was much older than either Tenzin or the other woman, her hair entirely grey, and authority seemed settled into her face.

“Thank you, Sister Choden. Opal, these are Sisters Choden and Nima. They both sit on the Council of Elders here at the Eastern Air Temple. Sisters, this is Opal, a new airbender from Zaofu.”

Opal said nothing, but she figured it would be a good idea to bow, too. Judging by the sparkle in Sister Nima’s eyes when Opal rose up again, it was the right thing to do. Unlike Sister Choden, Sister Nima had a pleasant expression on her face and seemed genuinely happy to meet Opal. The sixty-something year old woman looked pleased.

“It is wonderful to meet you, child. I take it you have chosen to join the Air Nation?” asked Sister Choden, sizing her up carefully.

With a soft gulp, Opal nodded once. “Yes, Sister.” She couldn’t think of what else to say—she could hardly tell them she wasn’t yet sure she’d made the right decision. Thankfully, this was enough for the old nun, as Choden redirected her attention to Tenzin.

“No others chose to come?”

Tenzin shook his head. “No, not from Zaofu. There were three others, but they were unwilling to leave their families and homes.” Opal noticed that he was eyeing her, and she swallowed again. She couldn’t think about her own family right now. She couldn’t.

Choden clicked her tongue. “Well, that is too bad. But we are grateful that you decided to come to us, Opal. We’ll get you settled quite soon. Tenzin, will you be staying long?”

“I’m afraid not; I’ve yet to check on several calls from the southern provinces of the Earth Kingdom. I would appreciate having a place to sleep for one night, but I’ll need to be leaving tomorrow morning.” Opal felt an invisible hope, something she hadn’t even known was there, drop. He was leaving her? Not that she liked him, especially, because she didn’t at all, but at least she almost felt that she knew him. Her mom knew him! And now he was leaving her alone at a remote temple in the middle of the mountains.

She became aware of the dread growing in her chest, and she tried to calm it. _I chose this. I want to learn how to airbend. If this is the only way to do that, well, I’ll comply with whatever they tell me to do._ Easier said than done, certainly, but Opal could handle this new life. She could handle anything. She was a Beifong, and if that had come to mean anything in her short life, it meant strength and determination.

Having steeled herself, Opal turned her attention back to the nuns and noticed neither looked surprised by the news that she was the only one who had chosen to come. “Very well. I’ll call someone to take care of your bison if you would rather come with me to the dining hall, Tenzin. Nima, if you would be so kind as to help Opal become settled?” Nima nodded, and smiled in full at Opal.

“Come along, Opal. We have a lot to do this afternoon before you’re suited to begin life as an airbender.” She turned and began walking down the path toward some of the buildings.

Opal followed Nima away from Tenzin and Choden, glad to leave behind the stern-faced nun. “First we’ll go to the laundry, where we can find robes for you. Well-fitted ones, rather. I’m sorry to say that the ones Tenzin brought for you are too fitted.”

“Ah. Thank you,” Opal said, a little awkwardly. She hadn’t noticed anything, but she did suppose that airbenders would dress modestly.

Nima did not seem to notice her discomfort, which was a relief. “We’ll have to get boots made for you, too, so we can take the measurements for that. Afterwards we can join Tenzin in the dining hall, as I’m sure you’re getting hungry now. Then I’ll show you to the dormitories. You’ll have your own room, though I do suppose it will be much sparser than you are used to. But still comfortable, I hope! You lived in Zaofu?”

They walked along past buildings, up some stairs, and the number of airbenders around them increased. Not far from the path sat a group of children on the grass, surrounding a young woman who seemed to be telling some kind of story. It was rather surreal for Opal, seeing as before yesterday she’d never even seen an airbender. “Yes, I did. My mother founded the city, actually.”

“Oh, fascinating! You know, you might have heard that airbenders do not usually know their parents. Family in that manner is a bit of a foreign concept to us. But I hope you won’t take us for being cold or unkind! Here in the temples we depend on one another, every person doing their part to support another. In that way we all take care of each other.” Well. Nima had certainly shifted the focus rather quickly from talking about Suyin. Opal didn’t comment, and soon they approached one of the bridges and crossed it. The bridge was made of smooth, pale grey stone, and Opal walked in the very middle of it. Even if she was an airbender now, that didn’t mean she would be able to survive a fall from the bridge.

Nima spoke again. “It was quite brave of you to come here, I hope you know. We wondered if any new airbenders would actually come to us. Oh, we hoped! But not all people are cut out for this way of life, especially if they were not raised here.”

“Have any others joined, besides me?”

“Just one other girl, here. And there are a few at the men’s temple. We expected that if anyone came it would probably be the younger ones. It’s quite odd, really, knowing there are airbenders out there who are not a part of our culture. But we can’t force them, so that’s that.”

Opal followed Nima into one of the buildings and down a long hallway until they entered a large room with tubs of water, clotheslines, and numerous piles of folded clothes. “Here were are,” she said to Opal. Three women were in the process of washing and hanging clothes. “This is Opal, everyone.”

The oldest of the women, who looked to be in her forties or early fifties, glanced up with mild interest. The younger two seemed rather interested, however. They both looked older than Opal, though not by much, and they set their work down and came over to meet her.

“My name is Fan, and this is Natsumi,” the taller of the two introduced, both bowing. “Over there is Gina.” Gina nodded her head solemnly.

Opal bowed back. It seemed there would be a lot of that here. “Hi,” she said, feeling rather shy. “I’m Opal.” She took a good look at the women. Fan was the only one without arrows, and she wore an outfit like the one Opal was wearing rather than the longer robes. Fan had darker hair than Natsumi, and both wore it long and loose. Opal realized that Choden and Nima both wore their hair the same way, too. She guessed it was traditional, which would prove a challenge for Opal to adhere to. Her own hair was cut in a fashionable bob with bangs. She began to feel a little self-conscious of it, and she reached up slowly to flatten it down some.

“It’s very wonderful to meet you, Opal,” Natsumi said. “I suppose you’ve brought her here for her robes, Sister Nima?”

Nima nodded. “Yes, this set doesn’t fit her well. You’ll be given several sets of clothes, Opal, like everyone else in the temples.” Fan went over to a cupboard and opened it, revealing folded robes of various sizes and colors, though of course everything was yellow or orange.

Fan began pulling out garments and Nima picked through them, setting some to the side for Opal to try on. “Should we give her the same sets we gave Keyuri?” Fan asked.

“Yes, I think that will be perfect. Younger airbenders wear the training outfits such as you have on, Opal, which are easier to move about in. I’ll give you a few sets of those, but also some of the regular robes adult non-masters wear. They’re not long, but are slightly more formal. You can wear either set at any time, although the formal robes will be better for festivals and special occasions, especially since you’re older.” She handed Opal a yellow robe and orange shawl. “Could you try these on?”

The next half hour passed in a blur of Opal trying on clothes and Natsumi writing down what needed to be made, until finally Nima was satisfied. Opal dressed for the last time in the buttery yellow and saffron robes she would train in, only this time they fit her properly. She slipped into a pair of plain sandals since they didn’t have boots for her yet. Her other sets of clothes were folded neatly, and she carried the stack with her to the dining hall when they left.

The dining hall was back on the middle mountain, and they had to climb enough stairs to get there that Opal was a little winded when they arrived. There they found Tenzin sitting across from Choden, still talking even though Tenzin had already finished eating. Though almost all of the long tables were empty, Nima led Opal over toward the two master airbenders. Opal sat next to Tenzin warily, and almost immediately a younger airbender came out with a bowl of vegetables and bread for her as well as a cup of tea. The vegetables and bread were plain but delicious, though Opal wasn’t yet used to the lack of meat. Her bowl felt as if it was missing something, but she dug in anyway.

Meanwhile, Nima filled Choden in on what they’d done, and what they needed. “We should be able to finish her clothes within a week, as well as her boots. I estimate that she’ll be ready to begin airbending training next week.”

“Thank you, Nima. I was just telling Tenzin how Keyuri has settled in well.” Choden turned her gaze toward Opal. “We’re quite glad to have you, Opal. Later this evening, Nima might introduce you to Keyuri. You’ll get along well, no doubt. Keyuri came to us a few weeks ago, and she is only a few years younger than you.”

Nima nodded. “I’ll do just that, Sister Choden.”

“There have been reports from Gaoling of airbenders around the area,” Tenzin told Nima, and both nuns’ attention turned back to him. “Tomorrow I’ll fly there to investigate.” Opal went back to her rice and listened idly, her mind mostly on the lingering strangeness of everything, and the fact that she truly couldn’t tell whether or not she was going to like it here.

***

“And here is your room!” Nima said pleasantly, gesturing her arm out for Opal to enter first. After eating Nima brought her to the dormitories over on the third mountain. They’d passed more airbenders, several of whom had greeted Nima cheerfully.

Opal entered her bedroom and looked around carefully. It was definitely a small room, really just big enough for what little furniture was in it, decorated sparsely but with care. In one corner sat a bed, next to which stood a low side table with a lamp on it. Opposite this was a wardrobe with a small stool beside it. Between the two was the window, under which was a shelf. That was all there was but Opal supposed it was enough. Definitely smaller than her bedroom in Zaofu, but she could manage with this. Sunlight shone in and gave the room a homey feeling that called to Opal instantly.

Turning back to glance at Nima, Opal felt a rush of relief that she at least had a space to call her own. “Thank you all so much for everything,” she said, clutching her new clothes to her chest.

An understanding smile spread across Nima’s face. “You’re very welcome, Opal. I’ll let you rest for a while, if you would like that? I’ll come back to fetch you in a few hours for dinner. You’re welcome to go outside if you want to, of course. There is a bathroom down and across the hall. And if you feel up to it, I can bring you on a proper tour of the temple after dinner?”

Opal nodded again. “I would like that very much, Sister Nima.” A few hours to herself sounded good, and was exactly what she needed. She didn’t think she could sleep, but time alone—that would be nice. More than anything she needed time to process everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

Nima bowed, and Opal returned the gesture. “I’ll see you in a while, Opal.” Nima left, closed the door, and then she was gone. Opal was alone.

The first thing she did was burst into tears. She didn’t know how thin the walls were, so she tried to be quiet about it, but it was inevitable. She missed home. She missed Zaofu, and her family—oh, spirits, she already missed her family.

Eventually the tears slowed some, and Opal realized she was still holding her new clothes. Seeing them complicated her feelings. Even though she wasn’t entirely comfortable here, she was still grateful for the clothes, the shelter, and the kindness. These people owed her nothing, Opal knew, and yet they were welcoming her as one of their own. But it was hard to reconcile the ultimatum she’d faced the previous night with these people, people who insisted that she leave her _family_ in order to be taught to bend an element that had come to her by no action of her own.

 _You don’t have to go,_ her father had said. The desperation in his voice was obvious, and it curled with guilt in her stomach. But Opal watched Monk Tenzin sit there with that strange, calm stillness and she knew that she needed to go. Something was drawing her toward the temple. She didn’t know why she of all people had acquired the ability to airbend, but what was it that her mom always said? Everyone deserved to reach their inner potential. Opal was certain that this was it for her. Airbending was what she had always been meant to do. Not engineering like Junior or designing like Dad, not sculpting like Huan or dancing like her mother. Airbending.

Opal lifted her hand and bent a gentle puff of air in front of her. She could feel it hit the wall, and could feel the way her small action had displaced all of the air in the room.

 _Please, sweetheart,_ her mother begged. She’d kept touching Opal, wrapping her arms around her as if that could keep her there. As if she could keep her daughter from her destiny. But as much as it hurt them both, Opal knew what she had to do.

Avatar Korra’s decision to open the spirit portals may have given Opal airbending, but it was Opal’s own choice to leave her only life behind and embark on a journey to discover what the future would bring. A terrible choice to have to make, certainly, and one that a considerable part of her resented. But she had made it, and now all she could do was hope that it would work out for the best.

Outside the window, she could hear laughter that sounded like music. It came in with the summer wind and settled around her. Both were warm. Both were good.

This could be a good thing, if she let it.

Opal set her clothes carefully on the shelf in the wardrobe, and continued to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I actually wrote something! 
> 
> The (boring, I know) title of this story is inspired by the [poem of the same name](http://peacefulrivers.homestead.com/maryoliver.html#anchor_14788) by Mary Oliver. It’s one of my very favorites, and may or may not be influencing this story. :)
> 
> I promise I’m going to try to update this as quickly as I can, but I’m a busy student. I’ve already begun writing chapter two, though, so hurray for that? And yes, this is going to be Jinopal… eventually. I really don’t have an exact chapter outline yet, but I doubt it’s going to be a slow burn deal. They’ll definitely begin as friends, though, so… hang in there.
> 
> Finally, leave a comment, if you feel up to it. I love reading them! I reply to most of them and they definitely encourage me to keep going, and besides, I want to know what people think. Thanks for reading!


	2. The Water Jar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinora goes to the market in the nearby village. Later, she meets Opal for the first time.

A storm was coming. The temperature was unnaturally cool even for the beginning of spring, and grey clouds were rolling in from the east. Yesterday's sunny weather was gone, replaced by an overcast sky and a comfortable breeze just beginning to hint at something sinister. So, yes, a storm was definitely on its way. There was a certain sense of foreboding in the wind as it whipped Jinora’s hair atop the bison’s head. Nevertheless, it felt lovely. There was very little that was going to get her cheerful mood to drop, because today was market day.

Among Jinora’s assigned chores was flying down to the nonbender village some miles from the base of the mountains in order to go to the market. She and a few others took turns going each week, and it worked out that she went about once a month. Although the temple was able to grow much of their food, there were still certain things that needed to be bought. Their greenhouses only had so much space, and the mountains didn’t have room for fields of grain, or large orchards. Going to the market was an important responsibility. Jinora took her duty seriously, of course, but she couldn’t help but feel exhilaration whenever it was her turn to go. Market day was one of the few times she ever got to leave the mountains surrounding the temple, and how could she not be excited for that? She _adored_ living at the temple, but there was a whole world outside, too, and she loved getting to see it. The village was amazing, full of life and people different from the life and the people on the mountain.

“Looks like rain, soon,” Sister Dolma said. Dolma and another airbender, Dema, sat on the saddle behind Jinora. Like all airbenders, Jinora wasn’t supposed to leave the temple alone. It was considered unsafe, not to mention a breach of tradition. There were monks and nuns who were allowed to bend the rules, such as those who sat on the Council of Elders, but otherwise all of the airbenders stayed at or near the two temples for the majority of the time. The biggest exception in the last few years was Monk Tenzin. He’d lived in the Southern Water Tribe for a time in order to teach the Avatar airbending, and now, in the wake of Harmonic Convergence, had also been given leave to invite the new airbenders to join the temples. But this was an exception, and far from the rule. One of the few laws the Air Nation held was that if you left without permission, you were not welcome back. During the war it was the only way to keep them together and to protect their culture, and without that law they wouldn’t have made it. Their culture was only as strong as its people, and so they had to stay together.

The Air Nation was almost completely self-sufficient now, which was a great feat after their near-extinction. The genocide forced their ancestors, the Air Nomads, to seclude themselves in order to survive. They lasted through the Hundred Year War only because they were believed dead. It had been hard for them, all hidden together in the Patola Mountains surrounding the Southern Air Temple. At times they worried they could not make it. The Southern Air Temple sat there, empty and alone, because the airbenders were afraid they would be discovered if they went back. They spent a full century, the entirety of the war, living in the shadow of their destroyed home. But finally Avatar Aang returned, and under the peace he established the airbenders were able to rebuild. The first thing they did was restore the Southern and Eastern Air Temples, which to this day housed their people. Avatar Aang, still a child, fully expected the airbenders to become exactly as he remembered them before the war. However, the reality was that even after a century, only a few hundred airbenders were alive. They were still a fragile population, still in need of protection. Because of this, the airbenders chose to continue their seclusion from the rest of the world. They dubbed themselves the new Air Nation, and began the process of reestablishing their lives in the temples. The elders formed ties with world leaders with the understanding it would be a distant relationship. Avatar Aang didn’t like their decision, but then again he hadn’t been alongside them during the war, hiding away in fear. The Air Nation only wanted to be able to recover, and do so safely. Eventually Avatar Aang accepted their decision, and he did his best to help them rebuild. And now, seventy-one years after the end of the war, it seemed balance was finally beginning to shift in their direction. The new airbenders, Jinora thought, were a sure sign of this.

“We’ll just have to hurry,” replied Dema. Jinora steered the bison, named Ima, down toward the village. Though the rainclouds were getting closer, thankfully it wasn’t raining yet. The village was a little over thirty miles from the mountains the temple was situated on, and the flight took three quarters of an hour. At the base of the mountains were several waterfalls, which fed the river that led to the little village. It was an easy trip to make, even if this was only the third time Jinora had flown them there herself. Rain wouldn’t hurt them, but it wasn’t particularly pleasant, either. Jinora didn’t want to return to the temple smelling like wet bison.

Glancing behind her, Jinora saw that Dema was peering at the clouds. “You remember that when you’re taking your sweet time perusing the market,” Dolma said, but there was a twinkle in her eye.

“I am forty-one years old! I think I’m old enough to get the shopping done in a timely manner. You should be telling this to Jinora.”

“Jinora doesn’t spend ten minutes deciding which fruit to buy,” Dolma teased. “You, on the other hand-”

“Forty-one years old!” Dema interrupted indignantly, causing both Jinora and Dolma to laugh. “Don’t you think it’s past the time you should be lecturing me, Sister Dolma?”

Dolma snorted. “Absolutely not. Do I have to remind you of the time you dropped the apples off the side of the bison because you were trying to impress me with a juggling trick you’d learned?”

“It was a stray gust!” Jinora and Dolma laughed harder.

Finally, they landed outside the village in a patch of dirt worn from past visits. Jinora turned around to Dolma and Dema expectantly and waited for her instructions, even though they were always the same. Dolma was reaching for the bag hanging at her belt, unfastening it so Dema could take it. “The list of supplies is in there. There should be enough coins, but if there isn’t you can come find me. I’ll stay here with Ima.”

Dema jumped down from the saddle and landed neatly on the ground. “Let’s hurry on, then. I don’t like the look of that sky. I’d like to beat the storm back to the temple, if we can. You think we can get all of the shopping done in less than half an hour?” Dolma carefully tossed down the baskets they used to carry supplies in, Dema catching them easily.

“I know that _I_ can, as long as you keep up with me,” Jinora replied, grinning. She hopped down from the bison’s head with a burst of airbending. Once on the ground she turned back to Ima and patted her on the snout. “I’ll bring you back some apples, girl, alright?” The bison huffed at her. Jinora gave her another pat, for good measure.

The village children were running up, knowing that they could pet the bison if they asked the old nun nicely. “Hello, children,” Dolma said, and she had a smile on her face as she got off the bison to greet the kids. Dema and Jinora made off toward the market, leaving the sounds of laughing and Ima’s snorts behind them.

After handing Jinora a basket, Dema pulled the supply list out of the coin purse and read it. “Looks like today’s list is pretty much the same as usual, except that we need to get more cotton. Want me to go do that, and meet back up?” They weren’t supposed to split up, but they both knew nothing would happen here in the village. It was one of only a few settlements within a hundred miles, and its population was smaller than even the temple’s. Even now, as they walked up the main road leading to the town square, the people around them went about their business without a second glance at the two airbenders.

“You just want to flirt with that merchant, Jianju,” Jinora teased. This was the real reason why Dema took her time shopping, but Jinora didn’t mind at all. She liked going to the market with Dema because the older woman didn’t stick close to her side like some of the other airbenders did; Dema liked going with Jinora because she knew she wouldn’t judge her for spending too long flirting with merchants. Joke with her, sure, but not judge her.

“Who, me? I’m too old to flirt!” Dema raised her hands innocently, but there was a glint of humor in her eye. “Really, the very idea, Jinora!”

Jinora grinned at her. “Forty-one is too old to flirt? Well, if that’s the case, forty-one must be pretty old now. I’ll have to tell Sister Dolma you’re getting too old to make these trips. Your joints must be killing you from sitting in the saddle.”

Dema snorted. “If anyone is too old for that ride, it’s Dolma. That woman might be seventy-five but I swear her body sure doesn’t act like it.” They came up toward the bridge, across which was the square. They knew from prior visits that the produce vendors set up near the bridge, while the merchants selling textiles and wares set up their stalls at the other end of the market. Dema handed Jinora the shopping list. “I’ll come find you when I’ve got the cloth. I’m sure I won’t be longer than twenty minutes.” She winked.

Jinora nodded back, still smiling. “See you soon.” Dema headed off, disappearing quickly into the throng of people. Jinora began searching for the items on her list. Tents were up over the stands to protect the sellers from the sun, though today that wasn't much of a concern. The canvas would be just as effective toward rain, though, so long as the winds didn’t blow them over.

The villagers were used to the weekly visits from the temple, so few people batted an eye at Jinora. One of the reasons there were shifts for coming down to the village was to ensure that the villagers didn’t become too used to their individual presences. The Air Nation was still in dire need of protection, and like Sister Choden said, they didn’t want to risk getting too close with the villagers. Dema flirting with shopkeepers was just fun, and both she and Jinora knew it. It was similar to how Dolma let the village children pet and play with the bison. Fun was acceptable, encouraged. Attachment was not. It was the way of their culture; enlightenment could only be reached through the complete detachment of worldly pleasures. Their isolated lives in the temples both protected them and allowed them to better work toward inner peace.

Jinora, however, was by no means enlightened, and she enjoyed being among the villagers. Just because she wasn’t supposed to form attachments didn’t mean she couldn’t be friendly. And there was a peace to it too, she figured. It was relaxing to wander the market rows and find the things she needed. She went down the list and bought flour and some fruit, as well as few extra apples for Ima. She smiled at the jokes the merchants made, and was sure to thank them when she left.

She was comparing peaches when she felt a tugging at her robe.

“Excuse me, lady?” Jinora glanced down and saw a small boy, maybe eight years old, holding his hand out. His short brown hair looked like a sparrowkeet had nested in it, though his clothes were clean enough. “I thought I saw you drop this,” the boy said, and his palm opened to reveal a green jade hair clip. It was beautiful, carved into a dragonfly, with small gems set into it. The kind of thing a woman would wear to a festival, or a party. It was an expensive piece of jewelry, probably. Jinora hadn’t seen anything like it up close before.

She smiled at him, setting the peach she was holding back down on the pile. “Thank you, but that’s not mine. You’re very considerate to ask, though. What’s your name?”

He grinned a toothy grin. “My name is Li! You’re sure this isn’t yours? I coulda sworn I saw you drop it back over there, by the apple stand.”

“Nope, it’s not mine. Airbenders don’t have very many personal possessions.”

“Really? None at all? I have a bunch of toys at home, didn’t you have toys as a kid?”

“I played with toys, yes, but I shared them with the others who were my age. And now they’re played with by a different set of children.”

Li thought hard about this, his face scrunching up. Jinora had to hold back a laugh. “Huh. I don’t like sharing. I mean, I share with Peizhi and Noriko, they’re my friends, but not with Ning. She’s my sister but she’s really mean so I don’t let her play with my toys unless Ma makes me.”

Jinora smiled at that. “You know, she might be less mean if you shared with her. You should try it sometime.” Li shrugged noncommittally at her suggestion. “I bet you it works.”

His little eyebrows furrowed. “Bet me what? You said you don’t own anything, so what can you bet?”

He had a point. “I can bet you…” Jinora tapped her chin. “An apple. I’ll have to give it to you the next time I visit the village, though, which won’t be for a month or so. You think you can wait?” The kid nodded seriously. “Then it’s a bet.”

Li spit in his hand and extended it. “Shake on it, or it’s not true.” Now it was Jinora’s turn to scrunch up her nose. “If you don’t shake on it then it’s not a bet!” He insisted. She held her arm out hesitantly. “No, you have to spit in your hand!”

Jinora sighed. Then she spit in her hand, and shook with the kid. It wasn’t a very pleasant experience, and she tried not to let it show on her face.

“Awesome! It’s a bet, miss…” he stared at her, while she casually wiped her hand on her robe. She knew she wouldn’t be able to use any soap until she was back to the temple, which was highly unfortunate. “What’s your name?” Li asked. “Do I have to call you Sister whatever?”

“No, I’m not a nun. I’m just called Jinora.” He seemed to accept it, and nodded.

“Then it’s a bet, Miss Jinora.”

She smiled. The miss wasn’t exactly traditional, but he was only being polite. “It was nice to meet you, Li. I hope you find whoever that clip belongs to. You could go back to the apple vendor and ask there, perhaps.”

“I’ll do that. Thank you, Miss Jinora. I’m looking forward to that apple!” Then he ran off, skirting between shoppers to ask more women if the hair clip was theirs. Jinora wiped her hand a few more times, and went back to looking at peaches.

Not long after Li disappeared, Dema came back. Her basket held the requested cotton. “Hey, Jinora. Did you get everything?”

Jinora checked the list. “Almost, we still need more tea leaves, and salt.” Together they finished their shopping, distributed half of the fruit Jinora had bought into Dema’s basket, and left the market. By the time they got back to Dolma and Ima the sunshine was completely gone, and the sky looked like it could rain any moment.

“Welcome back,” Dolma said, sitting in the grass. A few kids were still combing Ima, who was sprawled lazily on her back. “Come on, children. It’s time for Ima and us to get going. I’m sure your parents will want you home before the rain comes, too!” There were groans, but the kids listened to her. Dolma was the kind of woman who you listened to without thinking about it, and the village kids were no exception to her authority.

Once they coaxed the bison back onto her feet, the kids thanked the nun while Jinora and Dema secured their supplies in the saddlebags. “We’re going to get rained on,” Dema sighed. “I’ll try to divert some of it away from us, if it gets worse than a light drizzle.”

“Thanks, Dema,” said Jinora. Dolma bent herself into the saddle in front of them.

“Ready to go, girls? The sky’s waiting, though this rain certainly isn’t.” It began to sprinkle, then, confirming her words. “Well, a little water never hurt anybody,” she quipped.

Dema groaned. “I’ll finish packing this. Get up there so we can leave, Jinora.”

After hopping onto Ima’s head, Jinora lifted the hood of her robe. “Ima, yip-yip!” The bison floated up, and the children below them waved as they flew away. Soon enough the little village was nothing more than a speck below them, and when Jinora steered them above the clouds in an attempt to escape some of the rain, it ceased to exist at all.

***      

Another new airbender had arrived the afternoon before. She was apparently about Jinora’s age. They had two new airbenders at the Eastern Air Temple now, which was amazing. Whatever the reason for new airbenders appearing across the world, Jinora was glad for it. She’d watched with interest when Sister Nima walked in with the newest girl at dinner. Nima brought her over to Keyuri and introduced them, both girls shyly getting to know each other as they ate. Jinora was sitting a table over so she couldn’t hear them, but she did catch glimpses of them throughout the meal. While the new girl did not speak much, she seemed to get along with Keyuri well enough. Keyuri was fifteen, two years younger than Jinora. Though they had spoken and gotten along well enough, Jinora felt it might be a while before Keyuri was fully comfortable with her. She gave off the aura of a lonely soul, never really needing excess attention or companionship. Their budding friendship wasn’t helped by the fact that Jinora was the youngest airbending master in the temple—not to mention the world. It put her in a unique position, and others her age sometimes didn’t know exactly how to talk to her outside of training.

Jinora was a little lonely herself, though she wasn’t about to admit that to anyone.

After landing at the temple, where luckily the rain hadn’t yet reached, Jinora helped several airbenders deliver the food they’d bought to the kitchens. Once that was done and she’d bent her robes dry, her duties were finished. Many of the airbenders were in training or doing chores, and afternoon meditation wasn’t for a few more hours. This was another perk of market day. Her schedule had been cleared in order to make the trip, and now she was free to do what she wanted for a while. For Jinora, that usually meant tucking herself into a corner of the library and reading. She loved to read, and their library was full of historical scrolls and spiritual texts as well as more modern history books. Nearly every time she settled in with a new find, she sent a mental thank you to Avatar Aang for contributing so much to the library. It was a jewel of the Eastern Air Temple, and her favorite place in the whole world.

The library was located in a building connected to the Eastern Air Temple's temple, up at the the top of the center mountain, so it was a bit of a walk from the kitchens on the south mountain. Still, the minutes it took to get there were always worth it once Jinora reached the heavy wooden doors. They were intricately carved with swirling air currents, and the brass knockers were worn from all of the times they’d been touched. Though the door itself was only sixty or so years old, the knockers were salvaged from the original temple. Jinora let herself in quietly, and she did her best not to bother any of the other airbenders who were studying or looking for books themselves. Once inside, the long, rectangular room stretched out in front of her. Along one wall were thin, tall windows, the wood and paper shutters open to let in light. The rest of the walls were lined with shelves of various texts, as well as a small collection of artifacts.

While most of the ancient Air Nomads’ belongings were lost in the genocide, many had been saved by airbenders fleeing from the Southern Air Temple. More were salvaged from the ruins of the other temples, particularly the Western Air Temple, which had withstood the fires better than the others. In contrast to the artifacts, many of the library’s texts were recovered because copies were also kept in Earth Kingdom libraries. Because of this, the temple library had a mix of donated originals and handwritten copies. The collection was robust given that most of their own copies burned in the fires. The head librarian, Tung-Mei, once told Jinora that there were only a few scrolls left in the world they hadn’t yet acquired reproductions of. Most of these were in the library at the Royal Palace in Ba Sing Se. Apparently the Earth Queen was not keen on letting the texts go, let alone allowing them to be looked at and copied. This irked Jinora, but it wasn’t _too_ terrible of a loss. There was much lost knowledge from their ancestors, but her people had managed to preserve a great deal of it. The library was a grand accomplishment, and Jinora felt lucky that she could come here and read whenever she wanted.

Past the shelves of pottery was the section of the library Jinora was looking for. Her recent subject of study (personal, not assigned) was Air Nomad literature during the lifespans of Avatars Yangchen and Kuruk. The comparison between texts was interesting, the peace established during Yangchen’s lifetime affecting the writing done during Kuruk’s. Jinora grabbed a scroll of poetry she was half done with reading, and sat down in front of a long table with it.

She didn’t know how long she was engrossed in the scroll, perhaps a half hour, before she noticed an unusual presence. Glancing up out of the corner of her eye, Jinora saw the new airbender standing in front of a shelf of pottery. Thinking little of it, Jinora went back to reading.

After a few minutes, however, she realized that the girl hadn’t moved. Jinora stretched casually and got a better look. The new girl was standing there, completely still, examining a cracked crockery vessel. Her hand gripped the shelf as if she’d reached out to touch the jar but then decided not to. She was biting the corner of her lip as she stared, and her other hand hung at her side, motionless. A quick look around the room showed that the other three people in the library were down toward the other end, engrossed in a quiet conversation about their studies. Tung-Mei wasn’t around, either.

Jinora stood, having decided to approach the girl. Up close for the first time, Jinora was able to get a good look at her. She had olive skin darker than most airbenders Jinora knew, and brown hair that was almost black. It was cut shorter than her chin, which was a style unseen in the temples except when female airbenders were growing back their hair after getting their tattoos. Jinora’s hair had been that length before it grew out to where she wore it now. She’d liked it, she remembered, because it was easy to take care of. But she never considered keep it permanently. While it wasn’t necessarily banned to keep one’s hair short, it just wasn’t done. That was how many traditions in the Air Nation were. It was never really a problem, because as a whole they tended to value practicing the customs of their culture.

The more Jinora looked at her, the more other airbender glowed. There was no other way to put it. There was something Jinora couldn’t place, something new. Of course, that could have just been because the girl wasn’t a born airbender. It was likely she was from a culture completely unlike anything Jinora had ever known before. Her coloring suggested Earth Kingdom, but for all she knew the girl could be from the United Republic. The Water Tribes weren’t out of the question either, though unlikely. There was so much she did not know about the world, Jinora realized. Of course she’d been previously aware of her lack of knowledge about the world outside of the temples, but it was only now that she could really see what that meant. Keyuri had grown up in a small village not unlike the one Jinora visited that afternoon, so nothing about her particularly stood out as new or strange. This girl, though. She was something else _entirely_.

Interestingly enough, of all of the mysteries standing before her, what held Jinora’s attention were the girl’s eyes—moss green and now staring at her. Now Jinora had to say something before it got awkward. “That’s an old water jar from the Northern Air Temple,” Jinora said, gesturing. The new girl dropped her hand quickly. “Oh no, you can touch it… it’s just that it’s old, so don’t drop it or anything. I think it was made around four hundred years ago? It was during Avatar Kyoshi’s lifetime, I remember that much.”

“A water jar?” The girl cleared her throat and Jinora nodded. “Ah. Well, it’s uh, very interesting. I sort of recognized the pattern, I thought. My brother once painted something…” she trailed off, watching Jinora warily. Jinora shifted under her gaze and waited. The girl didn’t continue.

“I don’t know much more about it, but you could ask the head librarian,” Jinora suggested. She felt pulled to help the girl with whatever she needed. “Her name is Tung-Mei and she knows this library like the back of her hand. Even better than the back of her hand, probably.”

The girl shook her head. “I’ll… pass on that. But thank you.” And then, without another word, she bowed politely and left swiftly. Jinora was still standing there, stunned, when the library door clicked shut.

It wasn’t that Jinora was unused to quiet exits; airbenders tended to walk quietly. It was more that she was surprised by how the girl suddenly just… wasn’t there. Perhaps it was because Jinora was so unused to rudeness? Or, more accurately, shyness. The airbenders Jinora knew didn’t leave conversations unless they had to. Sometimes it felt like there wasn’t much to do on the mountain, but conversation never ran out, and airbenders never ran from it. They were really only shy when the two temples, men and women, came together. Everyone at the Eastern Air Temple had grown up together, and until recently no one had ever been a stranger. But even beyond that, it seemed that for some reason this girl didn’t want to be talked to. Or at the very least, she just wasn’t ready. Jinora couldn’t relate to her situation, never having had a family to leave. Presumably the girl had left some sort of family behind. Jinora didn’t know how it felt to leave your only home forever, but she did know how it felt when they travelled to the Southern Air Temple. Watching the Eastern Air Temple disappear on the horizon made her feel a little wistful, but she’d always had the joy of returning to look forward to. That brief longing couldn’t possibly compare to what the girl was feeling, but Jinora didn’t have anything else to compare it to.

There was so much Jinora didn’t know.

She glanced back at the water jar. She knew more about an old broken piece of crockery than she knew about this new airbender. Everything was a mystery; her name, her past, her thoughts. Why she had left so quickly. Why she seemed so afraid of Jinora. Jinora didn’t think that she was very frightening. Intimidating, maybe, because of her tattoos. Perhaps that was part of it. Proud as she was to have earned them at a younger age than _any airbender in all of history,_ sometimes Jinora felt like they were more of a burden. They wouldn’t always be, of course. For years the elders had told her she would grow into them. But Jinora remembered how the other girls were wary of her immediately after she got them. It was a similar look to the one the new airbender girl had just given her.

A water jar. It had symbols of water, earth, and air on it, bringing together the element that formed it, the element it held, and the people who had used it. Even looking at the jar's design didn’t narrow down much about the girl.

Eventually Jinora went back to her seat. As she sat down, the weather outside the window caught her attention as it finally began to rain on the temple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figure it’s important to note that I edited the mention of Tenzin training Korra how to airbend in the last chapter. It originally said he trained her in the SWT three years ago, but I made it so it was only one year ago. Explanation: I didn’t want to mess with too much stuff. The story is currently in late summer 171 AG, shortly after Harmonic Convergence, which in ~show time~ is toward the beginning of Book 3. In canon Korra had ‘mastered’ airbending by the beginning of Book 2, during a span of about six months, so the timeline is more accurate now. Even though this is an AU. Also, just so you know, all character ages match canon EXCEPT Jinora and her siblings; Jinora is seventeen rather than the eleven she is in canon, Ikki is fourteen, and on down. Basically Tenzin had his kids earlier. Opal is seventeen as well, which is canon if you figure her canon age to be about the same as Bolin’s.
> 
> Also, I’ve sat down in the time since I posted the last chapter and actually mapped out the plot of this story. And let me tell you… it’s going to be long. I can’t really make a chapter or word count estimate yet, but my outline in its current state spans about three years, so make of that what you will? Updating is slow-going now and I’m sorry, but that’s my fault for starting this story a month before the end of the semester. I am a busy college student who is supposed to be writing other things for GRADES so that’ll be taking up my time for the next couple of weeks. I can’t promise chapter three will be up before I’m done with my finals, but I’ve started it already so WHO KNOWS. Once summer hits, though, my goal is to crank out a chapter a week. So expect that schedule to roll out mid-May!
> 
> 5/12/16: I've made a few edits in this chapter because I realized that the Eastern Air Temple is in the southern hemisphere, not the northern one, and thus the season at this point in time (a bit over a month after Harmonic Convergence) would be early spring, not late summer/early fall. Just a little thing, but it bothered me. Anyhow, thanks for reading!


	3. A False Vow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Opal weathers her first days at the temple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodness gracious, this chapter kicked my butt. While most of the wait since the last chapter was due to finishing a semester of college, I still feel that the writing process went more slowly than I’d have liked. The chapter got a bit long, too, but I felt cutting this into two parts wouldn’t have worked well. Oh well! I’m excited for where the story will go from here, we’re basically done with the exposition now.
> 
> For those who haven’t seen, I made a few edits in the last chapter regarding the season. I realized that the Eastern Air Temple is in the southern hemisphere, so the weather at this point in the year (a bit over a month after Harmonic Convergence) would be early spring, not early autumn. Darned hemispheres! Not a big deal. I’m glad I caught it now. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Opal’s first night at the Eastern Air Temple brought bad sleep. It was less the fact that her bed was uncomfortable—though it was—and more that she was unused to the wind blowing outside her window. The domes in Zaofu meant no weather at night, so Opal flinched nearly every time the wooden window shutters moved. She checked to make sure they were properly fastened at least five times before giving up and staring at the ceiling, waiting for dawn. The interesting thing was that she didn’t just _hear_ the wind currents brushing against the shutters. She _felt_ them. It was another distraction from sleep, though one she didn’t actually mind all that much.

Her airbending was a strange and marvelous gift. The rest of her situation could hardly be called delightful, though, and lying awake all night thinking about it only made things worse. Opal hated being awake in the early hours of the morning. It brought back memories of being sick, times she’d had the flu or other illnesses. While her parents and siblings did their best to make her comfortable during the day, she always felt guilty waking them up when it was three in the morning and she was suffering nausea, so she didn’t. Instead she stayed awake by herself, miserable but unwilling to disturb anyone for her benefit.

This was a bit like that. There was no one on any of these mountains she would have felt comfortable going to if she needed something, which was a dreadful feeling in itself. The situation wasn’t helped by the fact that she had _nothing_ to keep her occupied. At home she’d had a huge bookshelf in her room. Well, there was a library at the temple. She would check it out the following afternoon, perhaps, and bring a few books back to her room if they let her. It probably wasn’t a far stretch to imagine that she would have more sleepless nights at the temple.

Finally dawn broke, and Opal got up in order to open the shutters. As she did the morning breeze washed in, wrapping around her like a comforting embrace and making the room smell like grass and morning dew. She smiled despite herself. As she changed out of her pajamas—a nondescript yellow tunic and matching loose pants—Opal fingered the necklace tucked under her robes. It was a small blackish disk on a metal chain, no bigger than a large coin. Her mother had tucked it in her hand in the last moments before Opal joined Tenzin on the bison to leave Zaofu.

(“A secret,” she’d whispered, her hands wrapped around Opal’s own. “Don’t let Tenzin take that. Be careful, Opal. Do what you think is best and trust your heart, it won’t lead you where you shouldn’t go. I love you, sweetie. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Mom,” Opal had said. And then they hugged for the last time, knowing full well they didn’t know when they would be together again.)

Judging by the brown-black color and the smooth matte finish, it was a piece from one of her mother’s meteorites, bent into a perfect circle. The character for _family_ was inscribed on the front side. It had to have been painstaking to bend, but of course her mother could do it. It was the only physical reminder Opal had of home and of her family now, and she wasn’t going to give it up. Luckily all of the robes given to her had collars high enough to keep the necklace hidden. Still, she checked with her fingers to ensure it wasn’t visible before leaving her room, and again in the mirror in the shared bathroom down the hall.

Once she washed up, Opal left for breakfast. The sun probably hadn’t been up for more than a half hour, so she was surprised to see that most of the temple was already awake and busy. Apparently airbenders were morning people. When she got to the dining hall breakfast was in the middle of being served. Avoiding eye contact with the people she passed, Opal found an empty spot at one of the long tables and helped herself to some sweet buns and fruit. No one spoke to her, which she didn’t particularly mind. She was exhausted and sitting in a room of strangers; there wasn’t any point in forcing herself to socialize.

After eating Opal decided to go on a walk around the temple. Nima had continued their tour after last night’s dinner and shown Opal the important buildings; the kitchens, the laundry, the dormitories. They had passed the Eastern Air Temple’s temple, though they didn’t enter it. It was a tall building at the highest point of the middle mountain, and Opal wondered what all of its rooms held. Near it was the library, housed in a building of classrooms. Airbenders liked to do their learning outside, Nima said, but in the winter they often had to retreat indoors. There were numerous spaces for meditation, gardens and pavilions dotted across all three mountains. Plenty of places to explore, and more than enough space to go for a good walk.

She stopped for about an hour to watch a group of airbenders going through an airbending routine, taking turns walking in a circle. The girls looked about twelve or thirteen years old and were instructed by a woman probably Opal’s parents’ age. Opal sat several yards back, her back against a tree. She didn’t know if they were used to having spectators, but no one did more than look her way. That was invitation enough to stay there for a while and get her first impression of what she’d soon be learning to do.

It was the first time Opal really got to see true, proper airbending. Their movements seemed so more advanced than what she’d figured out for herself back in Zaofu. The girls took slow and precise steps, and their bending created a light breeze Opal could feel even from her spot. The girls walked in pairs, bending the air in mirrored movements as the instructor calmly explained to them how to improve their form. Opal probably lost a good hour just sitting there and watching, not thinking of anything at all except of what they were doing. It was beautiful.

Though the movements were not the same, she was reminded of her mother’s dance troupe. Realizing this sent a pang through her heart, and tears to her eyes. _Oh, Mom,_ she thought. _Did you ever get to see this? Did Avatar Aang bend like this with Tenzin when you were young?_

After about twenty minutes of watching Opal realized that this was something many people in the world had never seen in person, actual _airbending._ Despite being an airbender herself now she couldn’t help but feel a little lucky.

The morning felt like it stretched on forever. Nearly everyone Opal saw seemed to be engaged in some task or another, giving her the impression that she was the only person who was bored. Opal felt terribly lonely. While some of the younger airbenders looked curious when they saw her, the people Opal met tended only to greet her politely before going about their business. At home there’d always been someone for Opal to talk to. Her homesickness sunk deeper.

When lunch finally came, Opal was relieved to have something do to besides wandering around the mountains.

***

After leaving the library, Opal fled quietly down the hallway until she reached the doorway that led outside. As she came closer she realized that it had finally begun to rain. “Spirits,” she mumbled, wiping at her eyes. Taking a look around her, she saw that the roof of the building provided cover along the length of the building. She turned right and walked a few yards before sinking down against the stone wall, burying her head between her knees.

The library. The jar. The girl.

By the time Opal lifted her head again it was practically storming, the rain coming down in thick sheets on the mountain. She groaned and ran her hands through her hair.

The whole reason Opal had gone to the library in the first place was because she saw the storm clouds coming in, but now she couldn’t go back in there. She wanted to go back to her dormitory, go somewhere private, go anywhere. She wanted to catapult herself off of this mountain and go home. Oh, Zaofu, where Huan’s paintings were, where she could sit with him in his atelier while he painted green things. He had always listened to her. Even when the subjects were stupid, things she’d heard at school or a silly dream she’d had, he always listened. Now, there was no one to listen. Only her own ears listening to the rain drops hitting the ground with increasing fervor.

The designs on that jar looked so much like the painting Huan did in his first art class, the one hanging in Opal’s bedroom at home. It was a landscape of Republic City which he’d copied from a photograph. Back before Huan had discovered his preferred style, the teachers had tried to teach him how to paint the conventional way. He didn’t like it very much, but he still gave Opal the best attempt before giving up and moving on. He’d given her that painting for her tenth birthday and she remembered the smile on his face when she’d opened it, wide and pleased at seeing her happy.

Spirits, she was seventeen. She was old enough to be on her own, yet here she was, alone and reduced to tears—she _was_ crying, she realized, she couldn’t help it—missing her family hardly a day after leaving them. She needed to get it together. She needed to be strong. Opal had never seen Huan cry before, though his face had looked tear-stained and ragged when she left Zaofu. She hoped he wouldn’t take the painting from her room. Even now she wanted that gift from her brother to remain there on her wall, _hers._

Seeing those similar designs on the jar in the library had jerked the memory forward, stunning her, and it had been hard for Opal to reign in her feelings. It wasn’t even like they were particularly unique designs. They were just the traditional symbols for the elements, etched in a band around the jar. Huan had included similar motifs along the edges of his painting, symbolizing the diversity of the United Republic. Granted, no airbenders had lived there when he painted it, but it’d been the idea of balance that counted.

Opal watched helplessly as lightning flashed quickly, followed several seconds later by a deep rumble of thunder. _Fantastic_. Did airbenders use umbrellas? There was no one around, no one to ask. She wasn’t going to go back and ask that girl, either. The last thing Opal wanted to do was to walk into the library, tears streaming down her face, and ask for an umbrella.

That girl had been nice, though. She’d wanted to help Opal, her expression open and polite as she approached. As if Opal cared about that water jar. What Opal cared about was the aching in her chest that hadn’t ceased since the moment she stepped out of her mother’s last hug and climbed onto Tenzin’s bison. She missed her family. Oh, Opal knew she would be okay, but seeing the jar had made her miss Huan. It made her miss home.

There were questions about the girl in the back of her mind—she was by far the youngest person Opal had seen with the blue arrows, looking close to Opal’s own age—but she pushed them away. She could consider her later. Now all she wanted to do was calm down before anyone found her.

Opal brushed her hair out of her eyes, and glanced around. No one was in the courtyard, nor coming out of the building. Well, Opal could wait until the storm let up. In the meantime she closed her eyes and listened to the hard patter of raindrops on the roof, letting the sound calm her until her tears dried and the rain had cleared the mountain.

***

She slept better on the second night. The rest of the afternoon she’d spent in her room, sitting beneath the window and listening to the sounds of children playing outside. Thinking. Missing home. She ate dinner sitting at a table in the corner of the dining hall beside Keyuri, the other girl who had become an airbender and decided to join the Air Nation. Keyuri spoke little, leaving Opal to awkwardly answer Nima’s questioning about her first day. After eating Opal retired to the dormitories immediately.

Keyuri was an obvious candidate for a friend at the temple, but there was something about her that turned Opal away. She was polite enough, but Opal didn’t quite feel comfortable around her. Common sense would have them teaming up together. They were close to the same age, and the only outsiders in this strange new place, at least so far. It didn’t really seem likely to Opal that many more would come. She wouldn’t blame them for choosing not to abandon everything they’d ever known. It was a harsh deal. If Opal could negotiate a compromise, the ability to visit her family every once in a while, it wouldn’t be so terrible. Yet so far the Air Nation had shown no signs of budging.

Keyuri, unlike Opal, had only left behind an aunt and an uncle whom she’d described as better off without her. More new airbenders might come, but they probably would be more like Keyuri and less like Opal. People who had more to gain from coming to the temple than they had to lose.

Still, Opal wanted more to join them. Perhaps if there were enough of them, they could join together and ask for a little leniency. It had been well over half a century since the end of the war, after all. Opal couldn’t see how allowing her to visit Zaofu every few months would jeopardize their safety.

After breakfast on the second morning Opal went back to the library, anxious that she would run into the girl again but desperate for books. The last thing she wanted was to spend another day at the temple without anything to do besides sitting with her thoughts. Opal didn’t quite feel ready to run into the girl from the day before, either. She figured that she owed the girl an apology for leaving so abruptly, but she needed a day or two to gather herself before it happened.

Luckily for Opal, the girl wasn’t there. At that hour almost no one was, and the librarian looked surprised but pleased to see her. She wore delicate half-moon spectacles, and her black hair was tied back in a braid that fell far down her back.

“You’re the new girl,” she said. She sat behind a desk in one of the corners that was piled messily with books and parchment. “My name is Tung-Mei. I see you’ve wasted no time in finding our library. You’re a reader, then?”

Opal nodded. “I stopped by yesterday, but I was wondering if I’m allowed to check out books? I’d love to have a few in my room to read in the evening. I promise I’d take great care of them.”

Tung-Mei nodded once and pointed to a box on the edge of the desk. “Of course. We use a card system for books, all you have to do is take the card from the book you want to borrow, write your name on it, and put it in this box. You can return books by leaving them here,” she gestured to a stack of books on the desk, “for me to file. If you keep it for longer than two weeks I’ll probably find you and ask you to return it. If you want to take a historical text, ask me and I’ll write it down in a notebook. Books without cards don’t leave the library, and if a text doesn’t I’ll just tell you. Mostly it’s the older ones and the ones most used for references that stay in here. Do you have any questions?”

Opal didn’t, so she began browsing. The filing system wasn’t too complicated to figure out. Unlike yesterday, when her attention had gone immediately to the shelves of artifacts (which she was now intentionally avoiding), Opal began her search at the section of fiction. Her favorite genre to read had always been novels, and she was more than a little disappointed that there weren’t very many of them. As she browsed their cover pages she quickly realized that all of them had been written by airbenders.

After carefully sliding a crimson-bound book with the title _Last Summer’s Days_ back into its place, Opal returned to Tung-Mei’s desk. The woman glanced up with an expectant look. “I just have a quick question,” Opal began. “What topics do the texts in this library cover?”

Tung-Mei straightened her glasses. “Primarily Air Nomad and Air Nation culture and history, of course. On these particular subjects this library is the most comprehensive collection in the world. We have a vast collection of historical texts centering on the Western Air Temple specifically, as well as some on the northern and southern temples. Most of the literature native to our own temple was lost, unfortunately, although copies in circulation throughout the world have since been recovered. Unless you have an interest in studying history, however, most of these texts probably wouldn’t strike your interest.” She stood up and walked back toward the shelves. Opal noticed that she was several inches taller than her as Tung-Mei walked beside a shelf, straightening the books. “We have a large collection of poetry, as well as transcribed oral tales, fables, and songs.”

“What about novels?” Opal asked.

Tung-Mei raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s a newer form of literature, only a few centuries old. We do have one shelf over here, though all of the books have been written since the end of the Hundred Year War. No one was writing novels during the war, you understand.” She pointed to the same shelf Opal examined earlier. “Due to their popularity we have at least two copies of each book, but overall only thirty or so novels have been published.”

Opal glanced again at the shelf. Tung-Mei stood there patiently, hands clasped in front of her. She wasn’t entirely sure if it would be rude to ask this, but she wanted to know. “Are there any, um, books published by non-airbenders?”

To her relief, Tung-Mei nodded. “We have a small section of works published outside of the Air Nation, yes.” She led Opal through the library, past the tables and shelves all the way to the back corner of the room. The section in question stood alone beside a window, and had four narrow shelves. “The majority of these were donated by Avatar Aang. Most are historical works. The majority of the books he donated to the Air Nation are in the library at the Southern Air Temple, I’m afraid, but if you wanted access to more of them I have a list of the titles they keep there.”

Running her fingers along a thick atlas bound in green leather, Opal took a deep breath. “Thank you, Tung-Mei. I think that’s all the help I need for now.” She smiled at the librarian. “I think I’ll be able to find something to read in here.”

Tung-Mei smiled. “You’re welcome. I’m usually around if you need any more help. I wish you luck in finding what you’re looking for.” She returned to her desk, and Opal focused her attention back on the shelf.

It was hard not to grab everything published in the Earth Kingdom and haul it back to her room, just for the comfort of it. That said, it had been nearly twenty years since Avatar Aang died, and it looked like none of the books were newer than that. Most looked fifty years old at best. There were textbooks (including several on various forms of modern technology which looked like they’d barely been touched), encyclopedias on a few subjects, and on the lowest shelf, a grand total of six novels. Opal recognized two of the titles, and grabbed one of them immediately. _Arisu’s Adventures in the Spirit World_ was on her shelf at home, and had been one of her favorite books when she was a kid.

As the morning pressed on a few more airbenders arrived in the library, but they left Opal alone. She eventually settled in at a table with a small stack of books she intended to check out. A few of them were novels written by airbenders, one was _Arisu’s Adventures,_ and the last two were the works of two airbender poets she’d chosen randomly. There were numerous shelves of poetry, old and new, and Opal figured that she would do well to develop an interest in it.

When it was time for lunch Opal wrote her name on each book’s card and placed them in the box on Tung-Mei’s desk before leaving. The librarian nodded primly at her before she left, and for the first time since arriving at the temple Opal felt like she’d found somewhere she belonged.

***

_Tap-tap-tap._

Opal opened her eyes upon hearing the sound. After a few moments she heard it again, and identified it as someone knocking quietly on the door to her room. _Tap-tap-tap._ She wiped her eyes and sat up, noting that there was sunlight peeking through the cracks of her window. It was the next day, then. Her third full day at the temple.

When Opal slid the door open, Nima was standing in the hallway. “Good morning, Opal. Could I ask you to dress and come with me? I’ll wait out here.”

Opal blinked. “Um, okay. Yes. I’ll be out in a moment.” She closed the door again and changed into her day clothes. She didn’t know why Nima needed her so early, but it hadn’t seemed like anything was wrong. The oddness of it gave her an uneasy feeling, though. She checked that her necklace didn’t show before joining Nima again in the hallway.

Nima smiled at her and began leading Opal down the hall. “Wonderful. I apologize if I woke you. I would have given you more notice, but that’s not quite how this particular thing is done.”

They walked outdoors, heading in the direction of the bridge to the middle mountain. “What particular thing? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

The corners of Nima’s mouth failed to conceal a smile. “A ceremony. Opal, are you happy to have joined us at the Eastern Air Temple?”

Opal thought carefully about how to answer that question. “I’m not… I don’t regret my decision. I’m still adjusting, and I won’t lie and say it’s been easy. But I stand by my choice to come here.” This was mostly true. She still missed her family something terrible, and was struggling to find her footing here. But she was determined to learn to airbend. If she had learned anything over the last few days, it was that she was willing to endure anything.

Nima nodded at Opal’s reply, looking pleased. “Then I think you have nothing to worry about. Everything will go splendidly.”

They kept walking down the path toward the bridge, and once they’d crossed it Nima led them toward the top of the mountain. As they passed by and through buildings Opal slowly realized that they hadn’t passed any other airbenders. It felt eerie and unsettling to see the place so empty.

Finally, after climbing too many stairs to count, they stopped outside of the doors to the Eastern Air Temple’s temple.

Nima turned and faced Opal. “I’m going to go in now. Take a few minutes to gather yourself. When you feel ready, enter in through these doors. We’ll be waiting for you.” Opal must have looked unsure, because Nima’s expression softened. “Don’t worry, you’ll be just fine. There’s nothing to fear here. There’s just one last thing to do before you’re officially a member of the Air Nation.” She gave Opal’s shoulder a squeeze before entering into the temple.

A few moments of silence passed. Opal glanced around her at the empty yard. When she felt ready? Ready for what? Maybe Nima wanted her to meditate on her destiny, or something. Opal reached her hand up and touched her necklace through the robe. She could feel the little stone disk against her skin.

Eventually Opal just sighed. Whatever was waiting for her in the temple wouldn’t hurt her; she trusted Nima on that. The silence around her gave her the idea that there would be a lot of people waiting in there, though, and she wasn’t looking forward to that. But if Opal had to go through some ceremony in order to begin training, she’d do it. Hadn’t she proven already that she would do anything?

Upon entering Opal first found herself in a small antechamber with little in it besides a few benches beneath wide windows. A large set of doors, wooden and with elaborate brass knockers, stood before her. The wood was carved with swirls of air. The doors looked heavy and old, older than most of the temple looked. Opal tugged one open and let herself into a much larger hall. Once she stepped in she stopped to look around, the door slamming shut behind her with a loud _thump._

Opal had been right in guessing that much of the temple were gathered in here; several hundred people were seated on rows of cushions facing away from her, though many of them turned their heads to look at her. A path between them led toward a raised platform upon which five women sat on cushions. In the middle was Sister Choden, and Nima sat on the far left. They were the Council of Elders, Opal realized. The other three women all looked older than Nima, and they all wore the same orange robes.

Above them was a ceiling several stories tall, large golden yellow paper lanterns and wind chimes hanging from the wooden beams.

“If you would please come forward, Opal,” Choden called out, her voice strong. Opal swallowed and did as she said, ignoring all of the eyes watching her. When she approached the front she stopped just before the platform, and bowed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nima nod approvingly.

Well. She’d already learned that bowing was pretty much the standard greeting here.

“Welcome, everyone,” Choden began. “As you all know, we have recently welcomed this young woman, Opal, to join us at the Eastern Air Temple. She is among a number of individuals across the world who acquired the ability to airbend following the events of Harmonic Convergence and the opening of the spirit portals at the north and south poles. Monk Tenzin invited her to come join us, and as you see, she agreed. This was with the understanding that she would be joining our nation for the rest of her life, dedicating herself to the Air Nation as the rest of us have.”

Opal swallowed. As Choden continued to speak Opal grew more nervous, the woman’s words making her feel small. She clasped her hands together in front of her and tried to calm the shaking in her knees.

“Though this has not happened often in our history, there is a set precedent for airbenders who choose to come to us and join the Air Nation. At the age of twenty, Monk Tenzin left Republic City and went to the Southern Air Temple, where he asked to be allowed to live among his people. The elders at that temple found his request agreeable. They convened and decided that he would take an oath in order to prove his commitment to our culture, and install him as a full member of the Air Nation. Now, in the wake of Harmonic Convergence, this same oath has been made a crucial step in the process of welcoming new airbenders to our culture.

“When Keyuri joined us two weeks ago, she took the oath. In the last month several boys and young men have done so at the Southern Air Temple. Today, we invite Opal to follow in their footsteps.” Choden looked directly at her, and Opal froze. The woman’s expression was impassive, and her chin rose just a little as she addressed Opal. “You have lived among us for two full days. Many of us at the temple have watched you, judging your character and your spirit. If we had felt uncomfortable at the prospect of your joining us, this moment would not have come. However, you have done nothing to indicate that you do not truly wish to become a member of the Air Nation. The Council approves.” Several of the women sitting beside Choden nodded solemnly. At the end of the line, Nima was smiling at Opal.

Choden continued. “Opal, on behalf of the entire Air Nation I shall administer the oath to join our nation to you. The oath is not to be taken lightly. As a member of the Air Nation you will be expected to live among us and follow our laws.”

The airbender sitting between Choden and Nima, a woman with silver hair pulled into a severe bun, cleared her throat and spoke in a high, thin voice. “The Air Nation only has three laws, but these laws are resolute. They were written by our ancestors in the first years of the Hundred Year War as the last defense of our people’s lives.”

“The first law: no member of the Air Nation shall leave an air temple without permission from their temple’s council. The second law: no person who is not a member of the Air Nation will be allowed in an air temple without permission from the temple’s council. The third law is that any person who disobeys either of the first two laws will no longer be considered a member of the Air Nation, and must immediately leave the air temples and never return.” The woman stared at Opal with an unnerving calm. Her expression reminded Opal of a cat-owl, just waiting to catch her doing something wrong. “Without these laws our people would not have survived, and it is through the observance of these laws that our culture has been able to rebuild following the war.”

All of this was a lot for Opal to take in at once, and in front of a large crowd of people; her brain felt like it was buzzing. Tenzin had essentially explained this when he invited her to come to the temple, but when described like this… it just felt more concrete, more real. Even living in the temple for several days hadn’t really convinced her that this was supposed to be a permanent thing. She’d been homesick, understanding that there was no guarantee when she would see her family again. Her first night here was easily the most miserable of her life. But a _law_ wasn’t something the council would easily allow Opal to break in order to go visit her family. They wanted her to stay here _forever_.

That was… a long time.

Oh, why in the world was she even here? It was a mistake. Obviously it was a mistake. She could have figured out the bending by herself.

No, she couldn’t have.

There was no way Opal could have taught herself the proper forms, no way she would have ever reached her full potential as a bender. Opal was a Beifong, and that meant mastery. It was in her bones. And it wasn’t just about living up to her family name. Growing up, it had never mattered to Opal that she wasn’t an earthbender like her mother—Su had ensured that her daughter felt just as loved as her brothers. But now? Opal wanted to learn to airbend, properly, more than anything.

Was it worth it?

Opal thought about the way the air moved around her, how her very movement made it shift and curve. Nothing compared to the feeling of the breeze against her skin. She wanted to learn how to _really_ bend, how to actually make it do what she wanted it to. How to bend like those girls she’d watched, that first morning.

“To be a member of the Air Nation is a permanent decision,” Choden told Opal. She continued to watch her with a steady gaze. “We are the closest culture in the entire world. We support our own fiercely. With that promise comes the hard truth—our law is uncompromising. The survival of our people has made this necessary, and to join the Air Nation is not a decision to be made lightly. We’ve offered you time to live among us, giving you a fuller understanding of what you’re agreeing to. Do you understand what we are offering?”

She understood. “Yes.”

“Good. As a representative of the Air Nation, I ask you, Opal; do you choose to join the Air Nation?

She couldn’t give what they wanted from her. No, she _wouldn’t_ give it. Opal knew that she was going to leave someday. It was a fact. She wasn’t going to live the rest of her life here and die on this mountain. She _would_ see her family again. Giving them up permanently was not a decision she would make. Giving up the world, the whole wide world which she had barely even seen. Opal wanted to travel everywhere—to the Water Tribes, to the Fire Nation. To Republic City, and every corner of the Earth Kingdom.

But she needed to be trained. So the way Opal saw it, she didn’t have any other choice but to lie.

_Do you choose to join the Air Nation?_

“I do,” Opal answered.

“Will you dedicate yourself to learning our culture, following the customs and traditions of the Air Nation to the best of your ability?”

“I will.”

“And do you agree to abide by our laws, to never disobey the word of the council?”

“I do,” Opal lied. She took a slow, calm breath to steady herself. She was glad there were no earthbenders here, no truth seers. Su’s closest advisor was a truth seer, and for that reason there were no secrets in Zaofu; Opal had never told a serious lie in her life. Her parents would probably be disappointed in her for lying to the Air Nation, she realized. Well. Seeing them again would be worth even their worst anger, though she had the feeling they wouldn’t mind _too_ much, at least not once they’d been reunited.

In front of her, Choden eyed Opal appraisingly. Opal held her gaze, and after a moment Choden nodded. “Very well. Welcome to the Air Nation, Opal.” Choden bowed from her cushion, and the rest of the council followed suit. Sensing movement behind her, Opal turned to watch as all of the airbenders in the room bowed, too.

***

From the eighth row of airbenders, Jinora watched Opal curiously. When everyone bowed to her the girl smiled a little, looking nervous as she stood in front of the entire temple. Jinora could relate. She remembered how nervous she had been after getting her arrows. Being presented as the youngest airbender ever to receive them had been more than a little nerve-wracking. Opal stood there facing them, her hands clasped tightly together, until Sister Nima rose from her cushion addressed them all.

“Thank you, everyone, for gathering to join us in welcoming Opal. You’re free to return to your chores and lessons. Or first, to breakfast. I’m sure we’re all a little hungry, hmm?” There was a wave of laughter among everyone. Nima turned to Opal and spoke to her; Jinora couldn’t hear them, but Opal said something to Nima and her smile widened a little.

There would be time to meet Opal again later, now that the girl was truly here to stay. For now Jinora would concern herself with breakfast, and then her chores.

Up on the dais, Sister Choden watched silently as the room emptied out. The last thing Jinora saw before she left the hall was Choden slowly standing up, her hand grasping tightly around Sister Dolma’s wrist as she lifted herself from the cushion.


	4. The Obstacle Course

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinora gets some advice, and Opal gets her boots.

As a master airbender Jinora wasn’t required to attend airbending classes, but she did still enjoy being involved with lessons. She wasn’t planning on ever becoming an airbending teacher herself, but sometimes one of the instructors would ask her to come help out. Most of the older airbenders who had earned their mastery would turn their focus to other pursuits besides airbending, but Jinora was still young. She loved to _move._ Her bending had always come naturally to her, and nothing felt more right than using it.

Today she was with the class of benders around her own age. Jinora wasn’t excited about this. To say that some of the other girls resented Jinora for having earned her mastery so young was an understatement. Sister Ayumi had asked her rather earnestly, however, and Jinora couldn’t disappoint her. Ayumi was the head airbending instructor, and at forty was probably the most talented airbender in the temple. She’d become a master at nineteen, older than Jinora had been but considerably younger than most others. The respect she commanded was practically on par with the council itself.

This was all to say that very few people would dare to cross Ayumi.

Jinora arrived to find the group sitting in the grass near one of the training areas, waiting for the lesson to begin. She sat toward the back, all too aware that most of the other girls were either ignoring her or whispering about her. Luli waved at her, though, even though she was sitting over beside Peony and Kita. Jinora waved back, and tried to ignore the look Kita shot her way. But it was hard not to hear her say to Peony, “Oh, _she’s_ here? Think we’ll get any tips on how to cheat our way to getting our tattoos?” Peony giggled a little, and a few of the other girls scowled Jinora’s way.

Jinora frowned. She knew listening to Kita wasn’t worth her time, but she still didn’t like that the girl wouldn’t back off. Luli glared at Kita and told her quietly to lay off, getting only a scoff and an eye-roll in response. It was then that the last girl arrived, and Ayumi stood from where she was sitting some yards away to begin the class.

“Good afternoon, girls,” Ayumi said. She stood tall in front of them, her hands clasped behind her back. Her dark brown hair was plaited back neatly, and unlike many of the older nuns, the robes she wore involved loose pants rather than a skirt. Jinora could see the appeal. They certainly would be easier to move about in, especially while teaching. “I hope you’re ready for today’s class, as our exercise for today will require considerable focus. You’re familiar with the obstacle course, and I am aware you’re all fairly capable at completing it. So our objective today is to improve your agility.”

As the group followed Ayumi to the obstacle course, Luli hung back to walk with Jinora. Luli was her closest friend. For the first decade of their lives they’d been at each other’s sides constantly, through all of their upbringing and most of their airbending training. She was never jealous of Jinora’s progress, and when Jinora earned her mastery Luli had been nothing but happy for her. Things weren’t quite the same now, since their days were usually spent doing different things, but Jinora still considered their friendship important. She knew that Luli did, too.

They fell into step beside each other, hanging back from the other girls. “Don’t mind Kita,” Luli said quietly. “She’s cross because Sister Bhuchung stopped by our meditation session this morning to speak to Ayumi about our progress. Kita still thinks she can get her tattoos before her next birthday, but Ayumi doesn’t think so.”

Jinora snorted. “Well, no one would know better than her.”

“I don’t think Kita believes that. You know how she is. She’s convinced she’s close, and that Ayumi is withholding them because of her age.” Kita was eighteen, the same age as Luli and a year older than Jinora.

“She wouldn’t do that. She approved mine, and I was only eleven.”

“Try convincing Kita of that and tell me how _that_ goes. At any rate, I don’t think she’ll get them in the next few years. She’d good, but she’s no prodigy.” At that she nudged Jinora’s elbow. Jinora nudged back with an eye-roll.

Ayumi waited until the girls were gathered in a half circle around her. “Okay, everyone. I want Tashi and Bao at the melon cannons. Peony, Luli, you two take care of the spinning bells. I’ve asked Jinora to come help us by running the course a few times so I can point out the aspects of her form I’ll be asking you to work on.” Jinora had met Ayumi the afternoon prior to practice the course and ensure her technique was up to Ayumi’s standards. They were, of course, and they’d been done in fifteen minutes.

Jinora positioned herself at the bottom of the course as Tashi and Bao went off to get comfortable behind the cannons. She was grateful it wouldn’t be Kita bending watermelons at her. Jinora wasn’t especially close with Tashi or Bao, but at least they didn’t hate her. Kita stood next to Ayumi, arms crossed and with a bored expression on her face.

Ayumi cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted to Tashi and Bao. “Are you ready, girls?”

“We’re good!” Bao called from the ledge.

“You can start when you’re ready,” Ayumi called to Jinora.

Jinora took a few moments to breathe. The key, she knew, was to ignore the others. She trusted her airbending. The obstacle course itself took some exertion, but Jinora had run it dozens upon dozens of times.

When the world had narrowed down to the obstacles before her, she took off.

First were the two large spinning mobiles of human-sized brass bells which Jinora slipped through easily. They were far easier to avoid than the wooden spinning gates, though they hurt more if you got hit by one. Next was the tightrope, and Jinora crossed it in three steps by building up her running speed with her bending.

Then came the field of cacti. Balancing poles were spread out every six or so feet, raised just a foot or so above the thickly planted cacti. The goal was to cross to the other side without falling. _Move like the wind,_ Jinora thought. She hopped from pole to pole, ducking and dodging the melons Bao and Tashi were sending her way.

Over on the side of the field stood Luli and Peony, watching her since they were done bending the mobiles. Jinora was halfway across when she glanced at Luli. She gave Jinora a smile and an encouraging double thumbs up.

It was right then that Jinora was hit in the shoulder by a melon, sending her pitching to the side, off the pole. She reflexively bent a burst of air to cushion her fall right before she fell into the cacti, her body lodging down painfully between several plants.

“Jinora!” Luli shouted, hurriedly bending herself over. Jinora’s hip hurt, a deep thrumming ache all down her side. There were thorns stuck in her robes, as well as a few in her right hand from trying to break her fall. Those stung. She would need her hand to get up so she pulled out them out carefully, wincing just a bit.

“Are you alright?” Luli asked from above her, her face full of worry. She was perched carefully atop one of the poles.

Jinora released a ragged breath. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Luli carefully helped her up. Balanced on a pole again Jinora rested for a few breaths before following Luli over to the edge of the field. Ayumi and the rest of the class had appeared there, standing beside Peony.

“Are you injured, Jinora?” asked Ayumi. The worry left her face some as she saw that Jinora was moving normally.

“I’m fine,” Jinora repeated, color rising in her face.

“Looks like you ripped your robe out there,” Kita pointed out. Jinora glanced down and saw that she’d ripped a seam down her right leg. “I thought you were supposed to be better than us at this, _Master_ Jinora? Or was this actually a demonstration in what _not_ to do?" Several of the girls laughed.

"Kita," warned Ayumi. She shot the girl a glare.

“I’m only making an observation that Master Jinora wasn’t agile. Wasn’t that the whole point of this exercise? I’m just curious how a _master_ could miss a melon flying at her head. She didn’t even try to dodge it.”

Ayumi ignored the girl and turned her attention back to Jinora. "Is your ankle all right? It looked like it twisted when you were hit."

Behind her Kita was grinning widely, and her eyebrows raised as Jinora locked eyes with her. "It doesn’t hurt," she lied. Kita snorted at that. Jinora looked back at Ayumi. "I apologize for falling, Sister Ayumi."

Ayumi clicked her tongue. "There's no need for that. All I'm concerned about is that you're uninjured." Jinora nodded at her, though the woman still gave her a once-over before she was satisfied. "Alright. Okay, girls," Ayumi turned to face the group gathered behind them. "It's your turn, now, you'll all be doing the course several times." As the girls went back toward the start to assemble themselves, Ayumi squeezed Jinora's shoulder. "Take a minute to rest and then go change out of those robes. Don't worry about the rest of the lesson, I daresay I can manage the rest by myself.”

Jinora could feel bruises forming all down her side, but worse was the loss of her pride. "I'm sorry, Sister," she said again. "I shouldn't have been distracted. I can do better than that."

"It's quite all right, Jinora. These things happen. I’m just glad you weren’t too badly hurt." She nodded once at her before walking over to the rest of the class to start the drills.

Bao and Tashi approached them, having made it down from the cannons. “I’m sorry, Jinora, I didn’t actually think the melon would hit you,” Tashi apologized, concern in her voice. She actually did look a little flabbergasted. “You’re usually so _fast,_ ” she added, “I thought you’d be out of the way no matter what.”

“It’s not your fault, Tashi,” Jinora said. “I just got distracted. But thank you.” Bao tugged on Tashi’s wrist, and the two hurried to rejoin the class.

Luli waited with Jinora, straightening her robe and pulling a few thorns from her hair. "Oh, Jinora,” she said, “Don’t look so downcast. It’s alright. No one except for Kita thinks worse of you for falling. You were doing perfectly until you tripped.”

“Yeah, well.” Jinora yanked a few thorns from her robe. “I guess I can’t do anything about it now. I’m going to go change. Good luck with the course, I’m sure you’ll do better than I did.”

Luli smiled gratefully, and hugged her. “Thanks. I’ll see you at dinner?”

During the hug Jinora glanced over Luli’s shoulder to where Kita was attempting to convince Ayumi to let her helm the melon cannons. As usual, Ayumi wasn’t budging. Kita looked rather disgruntled about it. “Yeah, I’ll see you then.”

***

“Now, here are your boots, Opal,” said Nima. She’d tracked down Opal about an hour after lunch, telling her that her new boots were ready. This was exciting since it meant that Opal would likely begin her airbending lessons soon. Five days had passed since the oath ceremony and Opal had little to do but read and explore the temple. The only person she really considered a friend was Tung-Mei, insofar as the librarian smiled when Opal came to the library.

Opal, sitting on a bench in the laundry, wiggled her feet into her new boots. They were rather slim and flexible, made of supple leather. “I’m surprised the Air Nation uses leather, considering how no one eats meat,” Opal commented, rotating her ankle.

“We only use leather taken from animals that die naturally,” Natsumi said. She was the only other person in room, and sat scrubbing grass stains out of robes. “Usually air bison. But there’s also a man in the closest village who supplies leather to us sometimes, from the livestock down there that die of old age. And we repurpose it when we can, too. Kids practically outgrow their shoes by the year.”

Opal glanced up in surprise. “There’s a village nearby? And the Air Nation is in contact with them?”

Nima smiled mildly. “Yes, there is a small settlement of nonbenders roughly thirty miles from this mountain range. The temple is inaccessible to them, of course, but we trade with them for what we cannot produce on our own. The Eastern Air Temple is largely self-sufficient, however, the mountainsides aren’t suited to grow certain fruits and vegetables.”

“Oh,” Opal said. She felt a little dumbfounded. It made sense that there were at least _some_ other people living in this part of the world. The airbenders had been going on and on about how important it was that they stayed at the temples, but now Opal wondered what the exceptions were. Trade, apparently.

It made her want to grind her teeth, but Opal tucked it away. She glanced back down at her boots and wondered if the leather came from a flying bison or a hippo cow. “Why don’t you stand up so I can check the fit, Opal. Are they comfortable?” Nima asked. Opal obliged, standing and taking a few steps.

“I think they fit well,” she said, rocking on the balls of her feet. She was about to say thank you when a figure appeared in the doorway.

All three women in the room glanced up. Opal was surprised to see the girl from the library. “Hey there, Jinora,” Natsumi said, a grin on her face. “What brings you over here?”

The girl stepped into the room and lifted her hands, displaying a bundle of robes. She looked a little embarrassed. “I tore a seam earlier while helping Sister Ayumi with training. I have a while before I’m assigned to help with dinner, so I thought I’d come here and fix them myself.”

“ _You_ tore a seam? Ayumi must have had you doing something rather physical. Well, you know where the sewing supplies are.”

Nima turned to the girl—Jinora—while putting a hand on Opal’s shoulder. “Jinora, may I introduce you to Opal? We’re just checking the fit on her boots.”

The two girls locked eyes, and for a moment Opal felt inexplicably shy. She allowed herself a better look at the girl than she’d gotten that day in the library. Jinora was a few inches shorter than Opal, and indeed had the blue arrow tattoos. Her long brown hair was tied back loosely, and her brown eyes stood out in contrast to the grey that most of the other airbenders at the temple had.

She was waiting for Opal to introduce herself, she realized. “Um, hi,” Opal said, somewhat awkwardly. “I’m Opal.”

The corners of Jinora’s eyes crinkled a bit as she smiled. “It’s great to meet you, Opal. I’m Jinora.” If she was remembering their meeting in the library she didn’t show it. She glanced down at Opal’s feet and politely asked, “So do they fit?”

“I think they’re just perfect,” Nima said, clasping her hands together. “Now you’ll be ready to join airbending lessons, Opal. I’ll make sure to tell Cepla before dinner. She’s already begun with Keyuri, of course, so you should be able to join them immediately. If everything is all set, I’ll escort you to join them tomorrow morning.”

Opal lit up. _This_ was what she was here for. “I can’t wait,” she said, smiling. “Thank you, Sister Nima.”

“You’re quite welcome, dear. Now, unless you need anything else, I think I’ll go check up on the kitchens. What were you going to do for the rest of the afternoon?”

Natsumi interrupted before Opal could answer. “Oh, why don’t you stay for a while, Opal?” she asked. Opal turned to her, and Natsumi shrugged. “You haven’t started training yet, so I can’t imagine you have a whole lot to do. I’d certainly appreciate the company, it gets boring in here when I’m the only one.”

“Hey, don’t I count?” Jinora asked over her shoulder, her tone teasing. She was rummaging through a basket on one of the shelves, presumably for sewing supplies.

Natsumi cocked her head, and pretended to consider for a moment. “Hmm… no, not really. You’re too quiet. I’m surprised you don’t have a book with you. So, Opal?”

Oh, there probably wasn’t a polite way to say no. There wasn’t anywhere better for her to be except in her room. “I’m sure I can stay for a while,” she said, and Natsumi beamed.

“I suppose I’ll be off, then,” said Nima. “I’ll see you around, girls.” She left and Opal sat back down on the bench, facing Natsumi and the laundry tubs. Jinora sat down nearer to Natsumi, and began threading a needle.

“So,” Natsumi began, “How’s your first week been, Opal?”

Opal sighed. “Alright, I suppose. You were right, I haven’t had much to do. I’ve just been doing a lot of reading. I’ve probably spent the most time at the library.” She caught Jinora’s gaze. The other girl smiled.

“And how about the temple? Have you gotten used to living here yet? I can’t imagine uprooting my life like that, I’m sure it was pretty brave of you.”

Opal stilled. “I… I wouldn’t say I’m used to it, but I guess I’m settling in. I haven’t been sleeping too well, though.” Opal kept having dreams about Zaofu, about her parents and siblings. Waking from them always brought an insufferable wave of sorrow.

“Aw, that’s unfortunate. Is everything in your room alright? You could ask Nima about replacing your pillow or your mattress if there’s something wrong with them.”

“Oh, no, I’m pretty sure it’s not the bed.”

“I know that I always have trouble sleeping when we visit the Southern Air Temple,” said Jinora. She gave Opal a sympathetic smile. “Sleeping in a new place feels strange. But the longer I’m there, the easier it gets. So maybe things will get better for you as time passes.”

Opal returned her smile. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m not used to being here at all. The first night I hardly slept, but it’s gotten better.”

“And soon, the Eastern Air Temple will feel like home to you!” Natsumi added, grinning. Opal forced herself to keep smiling. Natsumi kept scrubbing, her forearms deep in soapy water. “That’s really one of the perks of growing up in the Air Nation. Wherever I go, I feel at home, you know? There’s almost always someone around to talk to, always someone to ask for help. Isn’t it nice, Jinora?”

Jinora shrugged. “I love the temple. And I suppose there are plenty of nice people around.” She seemed less enthused than Natsumi was.

“Exactly! So I’m sure you’ll feel better soon, Opal. I’d choose to come here if I hadn’t been born here. Sure, we’re pretty secluded, but that’s always been necessary for our safety.” She frowned suddenly. “I don’t like to think of the state our nation would be in if we didn’t keep to ourselves like we do. Anything could happen. As it is, we’re still rebuilding.”

“The temples seem to be thriving to me,” Opal said. The whole _we’re weak and must isolate ourselves_ argument had probably made sense at one point, but now? There were enough airbenders that it didn’t seem like they were in any danger if they wanted to travel occasionally. Judging by the airbenders Opal had met so far it didn’t seem like most of them even wanted to leave, anyway. “It seems like the Air Nation has grown a lot since the war.”

“We have,” Jinora said. “Obviously this is the strongest our people have been in well over a century. Compared to the Air Nomads, though, we’re still pretty small. Only two of the temples are occupied, and even then we’re pretty under-populated. There are whole dormitories here that haven’t been fully renovated because we don’t have enough people to live in them, so they just sit there, empty. Even a small hit to our population would be pretty catastrophic, in terms of things.”

“We’ve gotten better with sustaining ourselves, too. Trade between the temples and with the village help with that,” Natsumi added. “But Jinora is right. We can’t afford to jeopardize our population. It’s always a big deal when an airbender dies young, from sickness or what have you. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does? We all feel it.”

“Last year there was a little girl, Kiri, who had an accident.” Jinora frowned. “She fell and she couldn’t really cushion her landing, she was only two. We watch all of the children pretty carefully, but you know. Kids are kids, and there are a lot of high peaks around here.” She and Natsumi shared a sad look.

Natsumi sighed. “Well, enough of that,” she said. “I don’t like to think about it.”

Opal sat quietly as both Jinora and Natsumi continued their chores. Natsumi looked perfectly at peace doing the laundry; she’d told Opal a few days before that she liked the tedium of it because it calmed her. Even though she was hoping to be an airbending teacher, she didn’t mind helping out with the clothes-washing. Jinora mended her torn robes with patient, even stitches. Opal herself had nothing to do, so she looked down at her boots again. The weather was nice, so she untied them and changed back into her sandals.

Opal rolled up her socks and stuffed them into one of the boots. Natsumi nodded at her. “If you get holes in those just bring them here. Do you know how to mend things?” When Opal nodded, she continued, “You can do it yourself if you want, then, but you’re not required to. The supplies are over there.” She pointed with her chin back toward the shelves on the wall.

“Thank you, Natsumi.”

“It’s nothing, Opal.” She smiled. “Speaking of mending, how are your robes coming along, Jinora?”

Jinora glanced up. “They’re coming along. It wasn’t the worst tear in the world, thankfully. I just tore a seam out.”

They lapsed back into silence. It was only awkward because of her, Opal thought. From what she could gather the other two girls were friends, or at least friendly. Opal glanced between them and a thought popped into her head. Apart from Jinora, the youngest person Opal had seen with the mastery tattoos was Natsumi, who was at least a few years older than her. She figured this would be a good time to ask one of the questions on her mind, then. “Natsumi, would you mind answering a question? Or not, I don’t know if it’s rude to ask or not.”

“I think I’ll manage even if it is. What do you want to know?”

“Well, both of you have the mastery tattoos.” Jinora looked up as Opal spoke. “I noticed that you guys are the youngest airbenders who have them, though. I guess I just wanted to know more about that?”

Natsumi grinned. “Oh, that’s not rude at all. I got them when I was twenty-one, almost three years ago. But it was pretty unusual. I’d say most people get them in their late twenties or early thirties, but it’s a range. Jinora, though,” Natsumi nodded over at the girl, who pointedly avoided eye contact and continued sewing. “She was eleven. Youngest person _ever._ She even beat Avatar Aang, he was twelve when he got them.”

Opal blinked, and Jinora kept on mending her robe. She seemed not to want to draw attention to her accomplishment, which Opal could understand well enough. “Oh, wow. That’s amazing. You guys must be pretty good airbenders.”

Natsumi shrugged, though she looked pleased. “I think most of it was hard work. For me, at least. Jinora over there invented a whole new technique.”

Jinora looked up and narrowed her eyes at Natsumi, but there was humor in her eyes and the corners of her mouth turned up. “I worked hard, too.”

“Uh huh, you showed them that whole spirit thing and they basically had no choice but to anoint you a master.”

“If you remember correctly I’d mastered all of the tiers by that time, too.”

“What spirit thing?” Opal asked, glancing between the two girls.

Jinora’s hands stilled, and she looked over at Opal, her sewing temporarily abandoned. “I can project my spirit other places by meditating. It takes a strong spiritual connection, though, and no one else here has managed to do it.”

“And trust me, we all tried,” Natsumi said. “I probably spent a year attempting it before I gave up. Even the nuns on the council haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Wow. That’s really cool,” Opal said. “So does that count as a subskill? Like metalbending, or lightningbending?”

Natsumi looked stricken. “Is it anything like that?” she asked, visibly uncomfortable. “Jinora’s never used her spiritual projection to hurt others. I don’t know that she even could.”

Opal raised an eyebrow. “Hurt others? Metalbenders and lightningbenders don’t necessarily hurt others. Most people wouldn’t hurt another person unless they had to, bender or not.”

“We’ve been taught about how dangerous those skills were,” Natsumi said. She pulled her arms out of the washing tub and dried herself with a towel. “Firelord Ozai could lightningbend, and he did nothing but hurt others with it.”

“Well he was pretty evil,” Opal said. “But he’s an obvious exception. And nowadays it’s not that rare of a skill, anyway. Firebenders who can generate lightning are hired by power plants to create electricity. And electricity is helpful to a lot of people.”

Jinora perked up. “I’ve read about electricity. There’s only a few books in the library which mention it but one of them has a whole chapter on how it works. I didn’t know that about lightningbenders, though. I suppose some of our books are a little outdated.”

Opal made a mental note to check just how outdated the information on electricity in the library was. At least twenty years, she knew, and probably more. “Yeah, it’s a really great thing. Electricity makes life easier for a lot of people. And metalbending isn’t necessarily dangerous. No bending is. My grandmother invented metalbending and she definitely didn’t intend for it to be used as a mass weapon of destruction.”

“So you’re the granddaughter of Toph Beifong?” Jinora was looking at Opal expectantly. Surprised, Opal just nodded. “I read about her in a history book detailing the events at the end of the war,” the girl continued, a thoughtful look on her face. “She traveled with Avatar Aang and helped defeat the Fire Nation.”

Opal nodded. “Grandma Toph was friends with him for years and years. And she was the police chief in Republic City for a long time. She founded a metalbending police force to protect the city.” Another example of metalbenders _not_ using their bending to hurt others.

“It just seems like it has more of a tendency to destroy,” Natsumi said. She was still frowning. “I suppose that’s why I’m an airbender. I’ll avoid any and all potential violence if I can, thanks.”

“I don’t think…” Opal began, before frowning. “I don’t think metalbending is necessarily destructive. Airbending could destroy just as well as the other bending arts. Your culture just has a strong emphasis against it. And that’s a good thing, but there’s a time and place for everything, including fighting.”

“Well, I suppose so,” Natsumi said, not really seeming to agree. “But I would prefer not to find out. I rather like the way we do things up here, don’t you think? We avoid fighting at all costs, and I think we get along very well without it.” She finished pinning up the washed robes, and began airbending waves of air toward them to dry them, Opal presumed.

Opal decided not to push the issue. Oh, did she want to—she wanted to explain how her brother Huan was an amazing metalbender and a pacifist, at that. It had always been a good thing that the twins had each other to spar with, because Huan certainly wasn’t going to join them. She also wanted to argue that sometimes it was absolutely necessary to fight. Perhaps a perfect world would always be peaceful, but that wasn’t their world at all. Sometimes it took a good fight to get the other side to back down, or to get others to stop fighting.

Opal wasn’t sure how she stood with this whole absolute harmony, back away from conflict thing. She’d grown up among earthbenders, hard-headed and stubborn. The Air Nation’s approach had merit, sure, but it wasn’t the only way to do things. She would much rather face a problem head-on than avoid it because it seemed a bit _dangerous._

Why the Air Nation was still hiding, Opal had no clue. They kept trying to explain it to her. But the airbenders seemed overly focused on ideals, seeing the world through a lens that didn’t quite reflect reality. It was Opal’s opinion that the perfect, safe world they were waiting for wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Or ever. But if they wanted to hide in the mountains for the rest of eternity, so be it. They could make their own decisions. They could teach that everyone else in the world was too dangerous to face. They could do whatever they damn wanted. She just wasn’t going to stick around with them for any longer than she had to.

***

Jinora always meditated twice a day; once at dawn, and again in the late afternoon. Most airbenders enjoyed meditation, though for some a full appreciation of the practice came only with age. But Jinora had always loved it. After leaving the laundry Jinora returned her robes to her room before heading outside to find a quiet place to sit down and begin. The weather was on the cooler side, not that it really mattered. Regulating her temperature with her bending was easy and besides, the sun was out. It was the kind of day Jinora loved, the sky clear and blue and the sunlight shining down on the mountain range.

It would have been a perfect time to meditate if Jinora weren’t so distracted. She rarely struggled to focus while meditating, but today there was a lot running through her brain. The obstacle course had been enough of an embarrassment, and she didn’t want to think about it at all, but then she’d gone to the laundry and met Opal properly. Jinora was glad the girl was friendly, looking much more at ease than she’d been that day in the library.

Jinora had many questions about electricity and metalbending, not to mention Opal’s grandmother, but Opal had ducked out of the laundry rather quickly after their conversation. Natsumi didn’t seem as interested as Jinora had been, but that was Natsumi for you. Little interested her besides her airbending and their culture. She worked hard and didn’t worry much about that which she didn’t know. Everyone liked Natsumi. Jinora, on the other hand, often found herself bored with wanting more to learn. Hence her current hobby of reading poetry written hundreds of years ago. Sometimes she worried that there weren’t enough books in the library to keep her occupied for the rest of her life. Eventually she might have to request an extended stay at the Southern Air Temple, to better engage with their texts.

Meditating was going pretty terribly, all things considered.

After an hour of trying and failing to meditate, it was time to help with dinner. Jinora didn’t mind—Jampa, who supervised the kitchens, was friendly to her—and at any rate it passed by quickly enough. After a few hours of preparation and serving Jinora finally got to sit down to her own meal. Luli was waiting for her, and they sat together, recounting their afternoons.

They were leaving the dining hall when Sister Ayumi caught up to them. “Hello, girls,” Ayumi greeted. “Jinora, would you mind sparing a few minutes to talk? It won’t take long.”

Luli and Jinora glanced at each other. “Alright. I’ll come find you when I’m done, Luli.”

“Have a good night, Sister Ayumi,” Luli said, bowing.

“And you as well, Luli.” They watched as Luli continued down the steps out of the hall. Ayumi turned to Jinora. “Come along, let’s find somewhere quieter.”

They walked in the opposite direction as Luli had gone, heading away from the cluster of buildings that held the dining hall and the kitchen. Ayumi stopped them as they neared a patch of open grass overlooking the mountain range.

Ayumi sat down, crossing her legs. Jinora settled in beside her. “I just wanted to check in on you after today’s lesson, Jinora,” Ayumi began. “You seemed unusually happy after you fell. I assure you that everything was fine. Most of the other girls fell while running that part of the course, too.”

“Most of them?” Jinora sincerely doubted it.

“Enough of them. Luli did. Kita may as well have except she fell onto Xin and managed to bend herself back onto a pole. I did have her run an extra drill for doing that. I asked you to come today because I knew you were capable, and you are. You know as well as I do that you could run that course twenty times and make no mistakes. You’re an accomplished airbender, and that you fell today doesn’t change that.”

Jinora picked at her fingernail. “I know that. I know I’m liable to mistakes, I’m not perfect. And that’s fine. But doing it in front of everybody like that…” she trailed off. Ayumi waited patiently as Jinora tried to find the words she wanted. “Most of the girls my age don’t like me. It’s been _years_ and Kita and all of her friends, they don’t show any signs of stopping. It’s exhausting. She takes up every mistake I make to use against me later. She puts me down every chance she gets. Defending myself doesn’t do much, so I stopped bothering. It’s frustrating, and the temple is too small to avoid her, but I don’t know how to make her stop.”

Ayumi’s lips thinned. “Kita is… well, she’s ambitious. She’s a talented airbender in her own right. But she seems to think she belongs on top, no matter the situation. I’m aware of how she treats you.” The older woman sighed. “When I got my tattoos, I experienced a similar thing. I was older than you, of course, you know that. But there were a few of my peers who were mean, and for more reasons than me getting my tattoos younger than they did. You’re right that it never exactly stops. Sure, they’re hardly making fun of me now, they realize that would be childish. But those women still don’t like me, and I know it. They know that I know it. They’ll speak against me or disagree with me if they can, but eventually they realized that going out of their way to make me unhappy wasn’t worth their time. After that happened, it got a whole lot easier for me.”

She nodded toward a tree a ways down from them where several flying lemurs were congregated in the lower branches, chittering and playing amongst themselves. At the top of the tree there was a lone lemur staring down at the ground. “Some of us are separate from the majority, for one reason or another. That doesn’t mean we’re not an important part of the whole.” The lone lemur jumped out and glided a long way. Jinora watched as it landed some twenty feet in front of a group of young girls. They tossed it a piece of fruit, and the lemur gobbled it up eagerly.

Ayumi continued. “Kita and her friends may seclude you from their group, but you know as well as I do that they’re immature for it. Luli knows it, and I’d imagine that some of the others do, too. They’re just too afraid of Kita to go against her. Eventually they’ll understand that Kita is just as small as they are.”

The girls by the lemur kept throwing it bits of food, but each time they went to pet it, the lemur scurried backwards. “Am I the lemur in this metaphor?”

“Perhaps. The others are too busy in the tree to notice what’s around them. Sometimes being apart from the crowd offers us an insight we would have otherwise missed. In this case, the food.”

Jinora stared out at the sunset, a wide expanse of orange tinged with pink and blue. Only a few more minutes and the sun would dip below the horizon. “I know Kita won’t hurt me. I’m not afraid of her. I just don’t know what to do.”

“I’m sorry to say that I have no easy answer for you. In my experience dealing with the other girls took a lot of patience. I waited out the bullying, and now? I’m happy. The work I do is fulfilling and I’m respected for it. But I can’t say where your path will lead, Jinora. Maybe there will come a day where she confronts you, and you’ll have to work it out. You could choose to confront her first. Or not. From what I can see, you’re doing the best you can.” Ayumi met Jinora’s eyes. “And if you ever need help, if you ever need _anything,_ I’m here. Others are, too. You have friends. I understand you’re rather close with Tung-Mei, as well. But the offer stands. You’re not alone, Jinora.”

Jinora nodded. Ayumi stood, and reached to help Jinora up. “Now, go on and catch up with Luli. There’s a few hours yet until lights-out, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t enjoy them with your friend.”

For a few moments Jinora just stared at Ayumi before bowing deeply. “Thank you, Sister. This conversation meant a lot.” She met Ayumi’s gaze for a moment. “Truly.”

Ayumi returned the bow. “You’re welcome. Goodnight, Jinora.” With one last smile she turned and left, walking over to the girls and the lemur. Jinora watched as Ayumi said something to them, gesturing a bit with her hands. The girl in front extended her arm gingerly toward the lemur and it drew nearer, accepting a grape and allowing the girl to scratch its head a bit.

Jinora smiled, and then went off in the other direction to find Luli.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and have a lovely day!


	5. A Potential Ally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Opal begins her training, Jinora referees, and another airbender arrives at the temple.

Airbending training was an absolute _dream._

It was hard work, of course. Opal couldn’t deny that. The first days required a lot of focus and little actual airbending. Even _standing still_ was something to be practiced. They spent a whole day working on Opal’s posture. It was crucial to remain light on her feet, ready to turn or step backwards away from harm. Spine straight, but flexible. Evasion was an important principle in airbending, Opal learned. (Given their political decisions, this didn’t surprise her in the least.) Next she practiced walking, pacing the Ba Gua circle with steady steps to maintain balance.

Cepla, Opal and Keyuri’s teacher, was a lovely woman. An airbending master in her mid-thirties, she’d volunteered to teach Opal and Keyuri in the mornings. In the afternoons, she taught airbending to a group of ten year olds. She was round and shorter than either of them, and she was graceful. Astonishingly so, in fact. With her long dark hair piled up on her head, Cepla moved with as much elegance as the best dancers Opal had ever seen back in Zaofu. She was a talented teacher, too, patient and calm. It was a good match all around. Opal found that copying Cepla’s movements wasn’t too hard at all, and the mistakes she made were often easily fixed. Keyuri seemed at ease with the woman as well, and together the three settled into an easy dynamic. They came together immediately after breakfast and trained until lunchtime, soon deciding that Opal and Keyuri would take two days off a week to practice and rest.

Perhaps Opal wasn’t close with Keyuri, but training together had at least made them friendly. Keyuri wasn’t very talkative, but that wasn’t an issue since Opal wanted to focus on her training. They generally didn’t spend much time together outside of training, and that too was fine. Outside of her lessons Opal would read or practice her bending by herself. If she happened to run into Natsumi, the older girl would invite her to sit and talk, but other than that Opal generally stuck to herself.

Opal had considered herself reasonably fit before leaving Zaofu, but it was becoming apparent that she still had a long distance to go before she could match even the youngest airbenders. Seeing this, Cepla instructed Opal and Keyuri to jog laps around the mountains each morning. The exercise had several benefits. Cepla explained how controlling their breathing would help them use their energy efficiently. Opal learned to focus on the shape of the air as she breathed it in, expanding her belly, and out, expelling it away from her. The ability to run would also be important later, Cepla explained, when it came time to focus on swiftness and agility.

Their progress was slow and measured. Opal knew that mastering any type of bending took a considerable amount of time. Thankfully, throwing herself into her training was easy; it was the one thing about being there that she was enjoying. It all became clear on the third day of airbending lessons, when Cepla walked the circle with Opal and instructed her to mirror her moves. What followed were the happiest minutes Opal had experienced since leaving Zaofu. Together their airbending brought up a gentle breeze, circling around them and rustling the bushes near their training area. It was absolutely, wonderfully glorious, and it reminded Opal why she wanted this.

They also practiced different breathing techniques, something Opal had never considered before. The airbending ability to regulate one’s temperature through breathing explained why few of the airbenders ever wore heavy clothing, even when the temperature was fairly cool. The weather itself, however, was warming up. Several weeks had passed since Opal arrived at the temple and spring was coming in earnest, buds forming on the trees. A few flowers had even bloomed. It was a visible indicator of time passing that left Opal feeling nostalgic for the beautiful gardens back at home.

She realized quickly that living at the temple was better when her mind was occupied. If the very best part of each day was her airbending training, the worst was when Opal returned to her bedroom at night. Being alone and having the privacy to think about her predicament was no good. Opal didn’t want to focus on the ache of missing her family. Only the library books sitting on the shelf in her wardrobe brought any comfort. _Arisu’s Adventures in the Spirit World_ was the perfect bedtime reading material. Because it was a children’s story, it was frivolous enough to distract her without being too hard to focus on.

The book told the adventures of the eponymous Arisu, a young girl who followed a dragonfly-bunny spirit into the spirit world. Opal liked the nonsensical story. The spirits Arisu encountered were odd and entertaining. The plot was silly. Reading the story reminded Opal of her childhood, and in a good way. Her brother Baatar Jr. would always complain that the story was too illogical, but he still read it with her when she was little, anyway. Huan would curl up with them, too, the three of them together in a pillow fort in Opal’s bedroom. Sometimes they even made it halfway through the story before the twins found them and interrupted story time by destroying the fort.

These were the memories that hurt the least, the ones that had happened so far in the past that it was easier to forget the way she’d hurt them by leaving.

A few days into training, Nima came and announced that they would begin having history lessons. Most of it was memorizing the stories and customs of the Air Nation. There were centuries’ worth of information to get started on, Nima explained. It wasn’t _terrible_ , since Opal enjoyed reading, and it was also something else to keep her occupied. That said, the lessons were dry. Nima, Opal, and Keyuri sat in one of the classrooms a few afternoons a week as Nima told them the stories, the two girls taking notes before reading supplementary materials for themselves. At the next lesson, Nima began by quizzing them.

Most of the time Keyuri looked like she would rather throw herself off the mountain than be there. “I don’t care about Guru Thokmay,” she grumbled one day, after a particularly grueling lesson. “I don’t care about any of them.”

“We could study together before the next lesson,” Opal offered. She already knew that she would probably spend a few hours the next afternoon going over her notes and reading what she could in the library about the guru. “The librarian will probably help us, if we ask nicely enough.”

“Yeah,” Keyuri said, sighing. “We can do that. It’s just that I don’t get why this is relevant to _me._ It’s important, I get that, someone needs to keep their culture going. But why me? I’m never going to be a historian. I’m going to forget everything about every single one of these gurus as soon as she stops badgermoling us about them.” They walked together back toward the dormitories. “And to believe this is the stuff that the ten year olds are learning up here. I don’t think I could have done it.”

On another memorable occasion, Opal fell asleep during Nima’s lecture. It was the third time they had a lesson, and Opal hadn’t slept well the night before due to the sound of the rain against her window. She awoke to Keyuri shaking her awake with a sorry grimace, and Nima frowning down at them. “Knowing the architectural history of the Western Air Temple is critical in understanding the conflicts between the Air Nomads and the Fire Nation during Avatar Qiang’s lifespan. Do try to stay awake, Opal.” After that Nima ended the lesson, but gave Opal extra reading to relearn what she’d missed.

So perhaps it wasn’t easy. This was fine. Opal knew coming in that there would be challenges. She was finding her footing now that she had her daily schedule, and she could do this. After days of uncertainty and wondering if coming to the temple was a mistake, she now had solid proof that _she could do this._ Opal was lonely, sure, and nowhere in the temple felt like home, but her airbending training gave her a purpose and that was enough. It had to be enough.

***

“Will you referee our game of airball, Jinora?”

It was the sunniest day they’d had that spring, and Jinora had decided to take her afternoon reading outside. It was going well right up until Jinora noticed a shadow blocking the sunlight and she looked up to see Ikki standing in front of her, her hands clasped together hopefully and a wide smile on her face.

The girl was younger than Jinora by several years, and was known around the temple for being a bit of a chatter-mouth. Jinora knew her from the times she’d helped teach Ikki’s age group’s airbending lessons. Ikki bounced on her toes as she stood in front of Jinora. “There’s an even number of us now that Niyati’s arm is healed, and no one really wants to sit out if we can help it. It’s okay if you’re busy, though, we can just as easily ask someone else.”

Jinora shrugged. “Sure, I’ll do it.” She closed her book of poems recited during Avatar Kuruk’s life and tucked it under her arm. “How many of you are playing?”

Together they walked together back toward the airball field, though technically Ikki skipped the entire way. “Ten of us, so five people per team. We just had a lesson with Sister Bhuchung. By the end of it most of us were getting fidgety, so we decided that an airball game was necessary to cheer us back up. I know you like reading all of those old, dry scrolls, but most of it’s pretty boring to me. You know what’s _not_ boring? The fresh air!” She did a few cartwheels, her bending aiding her. “I’m so happy it’s spring now, aren’t you?”

Jinora continued walking beside her, amused. “Yeah, I guess I am.” They approached the field, and the assembled girls caught sight of them and waved.

“Jinora!” called several voices, accompanied with bright smiles. The girls younger than her generally had little against her, and she was genuinely happy when several of them air scootered over to say hello.

A girl named Biyu reached them first and landed to her feet beside Jinora. “Thanks for coming, Jinora,” she said. Jinora noticed that she was pulling at her braids, as usual. “Ikki saw you over there and we hoped you weren’t too busy.”

Jinora grinned. “It’s no problem. How have you been?”

“Oh, I’m good. We’re excited to start this game, it’s been so long since Niyati could play.” 

Niyati reached them then, and affectionately swatted at Biyu’s hand worrying at her braid. Meanwhile she beamed at Jinora. “I don’t recommend breaking your arm, that’s for sure. I’m probably going to play pretty terribly, but I don’t mind.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Jinora said. They approached the airball field then. She stepped over to the side and set her book on a low stone wall bordering the area. When she turned back to the girls, she asked, “So are you guys ready to start the game?”

The rules of airball were simple, and refereeing was even simpler. Most of the girls played fair and Jinora was really only needed to begin each period and settle any disputes over fouls or penalties. She watched the game vigilantly, but she found herself having a good time. Seeing the girls laughing and enjoying themselves was fun. Biyu had a competitive streak, and enjoyed teasing her friends on the other team; Ikki was joyful, laughing as she played. Niyati was just happy to be included be playing after a month of sitting out.

At one point Ikki missed the pole she was stopping for and fell, hitting the dirt ground with an audible _thump._ Jinora winced. It was quickly obvious that Ikki was fine, but the incident reminded Jinora of falling during the lesson at the obstacle course. Thankfully she hadn’t had to speak to Kita since that day. Jinora’s conversation with Ayumi had helped her feel better, but that didn’t mean the problem was solved. Jinora still had no idea what to do about Kita, and as more time passed, the less it seemed like she was going to come up with something.

She just had to have faith that balance would be restored eventually. She needed to have patience. Jinora was a patient person by nature, but after sitting around for years while Kita bothered her, Jinora knew she was reaching her limit.

The game was still in timeout after Ikki’s fall, but the girl caught sight of something and pointed at the sky. “There’s a bison arriving! Look!” Ikki exclaimed, and the group looked up. Jinora looked and there was indeed a bison flying toward the temple. Most interesting was that in addition to the person steering from atop the bison’s head, there was another figure in the saddle.

“Do you think it’s another new airbender?” someone asked, awe in their voice.

“It’s rather likely,” Jinora said. The bison landed, and the man at the reins stood up. It was clearly Tenzin. He hopped down and landed with a burst of airbending, and then began walking toward the edge of the courtyard. Jinora looked and saw that Sister Choden was waiting there, hands clasped neatly in front of her.

Jinora, Ikki, and the rest of them stood and watched, forgetting the game. Back in the bison’s saddle, a young woman stood up, presumably the new airbender. She took a look around. Her eyes fell on the group and a crooked smile lit up her face. Ikki waved, and the new airbender lifted a hand and waved back.

It was then that Tenzin turned back toward the bison. “Maylin, would you please come here and meet Sister Choden?” he asked, sounding rather put upon. The girl turned and huffed, but she did slide down the side of the bison and jog over to Tenzin and Choden.

“I wonder where she’s from,” said Ikki. The new airbender had warm brown skin, her long brown hair tied back with a piece of ribbon.

Biyu stood beside her, and she crossed her arms. “Oh, probably the Earth Kingdom, just like the last two. I don’t think Tenzin has visited anywhere else yet.”

The new girl—Maylin—stood stoically as Tenzin introduced her to Choden. The group by the airball field was too far away to hear what Choden and Tenzin were saying, but after a minute or so Choden looked over and saw that they were watching.

The nun’s face was thoughtful for a moment, and then she cupped her hand around her mouth. “Jinora,” Choden called, “Would you come here, please?”

All of the girls stared at Jinora. “Thanks for refereeing our game,” said Niyati. “Even if we didn’t get to finish.”

“I hope she doesn’t eat you,” Biyu quipped. The girls giggled, and Jinora rolled her eyes good-naturedly at them. She grabbed her book before walking across the yard toward Choden and Tenzin.

As she neared them, Jinora couldn’t help but noticing Tenzin appraising her. Jinora knew he was her birth father. It wasn’t something often mentioned, though, and Jinora doubted he even knew that she knew. In fact she may never have known except that sweet Sister Bhuchung had let it slip during Jinora’s tattooing. Jinora meditated for most of it, but the airbenders tattooing her chatted during much of the process.

As luck would have it, Jinora was listening to them talk when Bhuchung remarked, “Why, a master at eleven! Many were shocked to hear it, not that there’s anything to be surprised about. I was chatting with Guang and she was a bit uptight about the whole thing but I said to her, come now, Guang, would you expect anything else from the granddaughter of Avatar Aang?” Jinora was surprised, but she laid still on her stomach as they continued tattooing the stripe of blue along her leg. “She was grumpy at me, you know, but Guang so often is. At any rate, she didn’t disagree when Ayumi announced Jinora ought to get her tattoos. I hardly think she could have!”

It hadn’t taken long to connect the dots. The man had never seemed all that interested in her, of course. That was just their way in the Air Nation. And yet Jinora was curious when she saw him. Tenzin hadn’t been born at an air temple, and the last couple of years he hadn’t even spent all that much time in the temples. He was strange, different than most of them, though less different now that new airbenders were popping up and joining the temples. But still. This was the man who had left them to go train the Avatar. He had more freedom than any of the other airbenders, as the councils were willing to let him travel and bring back the new airbenders. Jinora couldn’t imagine all of the places he’d been, and the things he’d seen.

Tenzin’s demeanor was very stoic and reserved, almost deferential. He was a tall man, and stood there stiffly as Jinora approached. There was something cautious in his expression as he observed her, before turning to look back at Choden.

Jinora bowed when she reached them. “Yes, Sister?”

The old nun nodded back at her. “Hello, Jinora. This is Maylin, the newest airbender to join us. Would you escort her to the kitchens? Sister Nima should be there, and she’ll help Maylin settle in. We weren’t expecting Tenzin for another day or two, otherwise we would be more prepared.”

“Well, the skies were clearer than expected,” Tenzin said. He frowned. “I hope our early arrival is not too much trouble?”

Choden shook her head primly. “Of course not, Tenzin. I’d rather like to speak with you, anyway, so your arrival is quite welcome.” She looked back at Jinora. “After bringing Maylin to the kitchens you may well return to the airball field, if they’re still playing. I’ll let the girls know you’ll return soon.”

“Thank you, Sister,” Jinora said. She glanced at Maylin, who had been standing there quietly since Jinora came over. “Are you ready to go?”

Maylin nodded. “Very well, then,” said Choden. “It is a pleasure to have you here, Maylin. I look forward to your presence at the temple. Have a good afternoon, girls.” Jinora bowed once more, and with a quick glance at Maylin, led her off in the direction of the kitchens.

It wasn’t a far walk, but Jinora figured they might as well chat a bit. She was about to speak when Maylin beat her to it. “Are all of the nuns here that stuffy?” she asked, wrinkling her nose. “And here I thought the ladies at home were insufferable.”

Jinora held back a smile. “No, not everyone is as serious as Sister Choden. Sister Guang, maybe. But most of them are quite nice.” She got a good look at the girl. Maylin’s eyes were searching, almost distrustful as she took in the temple. She was rather lanky, and she stood half a head taller than Jinora. “So where are you from?” Jinora asked politely.

“Ah, the great city of Omashu. What about you? Born and raised here at this temple?”

“Mmhmm.”

Maylin tilted her head and stared at Jinora. Not quite comfortable with the way Maylin was studying her, Jinora looked away. “Interesting,” Maylin said. “How old are you?”

“I’m seventeen. How about you?”

After a few paces, Jinora noticed that Maylin had stopped walking. She was standing in front of the dining hall, examining its architecture. “I’m twenty. Lived in Omashu my whole life, too, I never left the city until yesterday morning. I always wanted to travel.” She stared up at the blue roofs above them, reaching toward the sky. The tiles shimmered in the sunlight. “I’ve gotta say, this place is pretty gorgeous. Not bad for my first adventure away from home. It’ll do, anyway.”

Jinora smiled. “The temple is beautiful in the spring. Our winters are pretty mild, but still, it’s nice to see everything come back to life again.” They continued walking down the path. “Of course, airbenders love autumn the best. It’s our season, and it’s when the best festivals are. The views of the trees on the mountains changing colors are really wonderful, too.”

“So do you really never get to leave these temples?” Maylin suddenly asked. Jinora just stared at her. “What? I mean, that’s what that monk fellow told me, but really? _Never_? You’re that afraid of the big, bad world?”

“The world is an unsafe place for an airbender,” Jinora answered automatically. Maylin put a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. “We’re still recovering. The reason we were so easily wiped out during the genocide was because we’re a peaceful culture. We’re still peaceful, and the world still isn’t. Staying in the temples is our only chance at becoming as great as the old Air Nomads, and preserving balance in the world.”

“Hmmph. I guess I’ll learn all about this soon enough, huh? Well, I’ll follow your rules. I knew coming into this that I’d have to. I’m grateful for the opportunity to come here, don’t get me wrong. I wanted to get out of Omashu. Now that I’ve done that, well, I may as well learn how to be a halfway decent airbender, don’t you think?”

"I suppose," Jinora said. She didn't know what else to say but thankfully they had reached the kitchens. They came to a stop in front of the doors. “Um, we’re here. Where we stopped earlier is where the dining hall is, and this is where the kitchens are. All of our meals are served in the hall.”

Maylin nodded. “Alright. Good to know.” She slid open the door and gestured for Jinora to go in. Jinora led them down the hallway, peeking into rooms until she heard Nima’s voice. They continued down to where the hall turned right, then seeing that one of the doors to the storage rooms was open.

Jinora stuck her head in to see Nima and another airbender taking note of their fruit stores. “Sister Nima, another airbender arrived. Sister Choden asked me to bring her over here to you.”

Nima turned and a wide grin spread across her face. “Oh, of course! Tenzin must have arrived early, but that’s quite alright. She’s here with you?” Maylin stepped around from behind Jinora. “Fantastic! Just give me a moment, and I’ll bring you to get some robes, and assign you a room in the dormitories. What’s your name, dear?”

“I’m Maylin.” She and Jinora entered the room, and Nima introduced herself and the other airbender, Rinchen. Jinora waited long enough to ensure that Maylin was fine, but the girl was leaning casually against the wall, waiting for Nima to finish up counting apples.

“Do you need anything before I go, Sister Nima?” Jinora asked. Maylin glanced down at the book Jinora was carrying, her eyes scanning the title. Meanwhile Nima gave Jinora a warm smile and a squeeze on the shoulder.

“That’s it, Jinora. Thank you for bringing her here. Take care, and have a good afternoon.” Jinora raised a hand to wave goodbye to Maylin, and the new airbender smiled crookedly and lifted a hand in response.

***

At dinner Opal noticed a new person. She was a young woman with skin a similar shade as Opal’s but with slightly lighter brown hair; the skin was what set her apart from the rest of the airbenders. Nima led her over to the table at the end of the dining hall where Opal was sitting with Keyuri.

“Girls, this is Maylin. She arrived this afternoon and has come to join us, like you,” Nima said. “Maylin, this is Opal, and Keyuri. They’re the other two airbenders who’ve come to the Eastern Air Temple, and you’ll be learning airbending alongside them.”

Nima gave Maylin a meaningful look, and Maylin bowed to them. If Opal wasn’t mistaken, she’d rolled her eyes a little before she bowed. “It’s nice to meet you guys,” Maylin said after straightening. “Mind if I sit and eat with you?”

Opal set down her chopsticks and smiled warmly. “Of course. It’s just us here right now, so take whichever spot you want.” Sometimes Opal ate with Natsumi, but today the young master had decided to eat with Fan, who was sitting at a different table.

After had Maylin sat down, Nima beamed at them. “Oh, girls. It makes me happy to see you three together. This is the beginning of something wonderful.” She glanced over across the room. “I think I’m going to go eat with Sister Choden and fill her in on the afternoon. Will you be alright for the rest of the evening, Maylin?”

“I’m good,” Maylin said. She was already piling a bowl with noodles and vegetables. “Thank you, Nima.”

Nima blinked, perhaps at the fact that Maylin hadn’t used her title. “You’re quite welcome, Maylin. I’ll check on you tomorrow, but as I mentioned before, you won’t have any scheduled activities just yet. Take this time to get settled in.” She nodded to Opal and Keyuri. “Have a good evening, girls.”

Once she was gone, Maylin sighed and her posture slumped. “ _Finally._ I’ve spent the last couple of hours being dragged around these mountains by that woman. Please tell me it gets better from here?”

Keyuri shrugged. “She leaves me alone most of the time, but she still likes to check in to see how we’re doing. Oh, and she teaches our history lessons, so you’ll have to see her then.”

“And how often is that?”

“Three times a week,” Opal said. She took a sip of tea. “You probably won’t join us for a week or so, though.”

Maylin leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. “Uuuugh. I don’t think she likes me very much. She’s nice, but I could see it in her eyes.” She looked back at the other two girls. “Hopefully that’s enough to get her to give me some space. If she’s on my back half as much as my mother was, there’s going to be a problem.”

“She’s not that bad, but I know what you mean.”

Maylin began eating, and Opal continued. It happened to be then that Keyuri finished. “I think I’m going to go. It’s nice meeting you, Maylin. See you both around.” She stood up, and nodded at them before going to return her bowl and leave.

“She must be Keyuri, judging by her age?” Maylin asked. Opal nodded. “So that makes you Opal.” 

“Yup, that’s me. Keyuri is fifteen, and I’m seventeen.”

“I’m twenty. It’s nice to meet you, Opal.” Maylin extended a hand across the table, and from muscle memory Opal automatically shook her hand. After several weeks of bowing, shaking hands was almost a surprise. “So how long ago did you get here?”

“I arrived a few weeks ago. Where are you from?”

Maylin talked as she ate. “I’m from Omashu, which believe me was _not_ a pleasant city to live in as a nonbender. We’re a pretty equal city, all things concerned, we don’t have a whole lot of class inequality, but the city still needs to get better about making things easier for nonbenders. Getting around by myself was a pain, what with all of those earth elevators and doors. I never wanna see another staircase again. You can bet I was happy to wake up an airbender.” She made a small air funnel above her hand. “This is about all I can do so far, but I know that with enough training I’ll be doing flips off of bison and all that. So what about you? Where are you from?”

“Oh, I’m from Zaofu,” Opal answered.

Maylin whistled, her eyebrows raising. “That metal city, huh? I’ve never been, but I’ve heard of how modern it is there. What was living there as a nonbender like?”

“It wasn’t bad.” Opal shrugged. “My mom founded the city and she’s a metalbender, but she has this thing about encouraging everyone’s talents no matter what they are. And my dad’s a nonbender. He was the one who actually designed and built the city, even though Mom gets a lot of the credit for it.”

Maylin’s eyes widened. “Wait, so you’re a Beifong?” She lowered her chopsticks slowly. “A bona fide _Beifong_?”

“Yup.” Opal smiled. “My grandma is Toph Beifong.”

“Well, wow. An airbending Beifong. I bet that surprised a lot of people.”

“Yeah, it did at first. But everybody was happy for me. I’m sure leaving them and coming here was what really surprised people.” What an understatement, though. Leaving Zaofu had done far more than surprised her family, that was for sure. “I know it made my parents unhappy.”

“Yeah, my mother wasn’t too pleased with me for deciding to leave. She refused to call that Tenzin fellow to come fetch me after we heard about him going around and picking people up, but I was pretty adamant about it. I think eventually she realized this was a pretty good opportunity to be rid of me. She wasn’t particularly fond of what she called my _antics_.” Maylin snorted, went back to eating. “So I didn’t want to get married anytime soon. So I kissed a few girls in closets during parties. There are worse things I could have been up to.”

Opal laughed and found herself smiling. “Oh, of course. My twin brothers, Wing and Wei, they’re getting close to the age where I know they’re going to get into all sorts of shenanigans with girls. My poor parents will have fun reining them in, that’s for sure.”

“I’ve got an older brother, but he’s pretty straight-laced. He’s all set to get married in the summer. My mother’s over the moon, it’s everything she ever dreamed for him. I’m actually sorry to be missing it, I get along with him pretty well.” Maylin took a look around them. Most of the dining hall was empty, and the people sitting closest to them were a group of young children being watched by two disgruntled and overwhelmed girls. When it was clear no one was listening to their conversation, she asked, “So how do you feel about all of this reclusive, hide away from the world nonsense?”

Opal heaved an angry huff. “It’s awful, honestly. I hate it.” She realized as she said it just how relieving it felt to be _honest._ “I’m trying to take it in stride, but I’m unhappy. Being here wouldn’t be so bad if I could go home every few months.”

Maylin stared at her for a moment. “You really miss your family, don’t you?” Opal nodded. “But still you came here. Why?”

“I want to learn to airbend. I really, really want it. I want to be a master one day. It’s like everything cleared up the moment I discovered my bending. All of a sudden, I knew what I wanted to do.” She sighed. “I keep telling myself that this is the right path for me. There’s a lot of learning before I’m even an average airbender. But I can’t settle with it. I don’t like being closed off from the world. It feels wrong.”

“You’ve got that right. I always figured that the airbenders were, oh, I don’t know, wise? That’s the image they’ve got going. But I think five people have talked about protection to me in the last four hours, the number one offender being Nima. I think she senses that I don’t agree with what they’re saying.”

Opal snorted a laugh. “It’s so hypocritical. Everyone here keeps talking about balance and harmony, but they’re the ones who aren’t in balance with the world.”

“Most people are hypocritical in some way, whether or not they realize it.” Opal raised an eyebrow. “What? It’s true. Me, for instance. My pet peeve is when people judge others. I have no patience for it. We need to accept everyone as they are, you know? Who cares what others are doing so long as they’re not hurting anyone. But I happen to be pretty judgmental myself. Spirits know I spend a lot of time hating my mother for the way she tries to insert her opinion of how people should act into every damn conversation. The woman can’t help but find something wrong with anyone but herself. But me judging her isn’t any better than her judging others, in the end. Like it or not I’m just like her; I have a way I think people should act, and I get pretty assertive about it.”

“That’s… it’s very self-aware of you to realize that.”

Maylin shrugged. “You could say that. I assume the people here just don’t realize they’re being completely and utterly hypocritical. Most people don’t, but goodness, the Air Nation is kind of pushing it. The trick of getting through this is going to be figuring out who to trust. I’d bet money there has to be someone around here who isn’t entirely sold on everything they’ve been taught up here. Until we do that, it looks like we’ve got each other. And maybe that Keyuri girl, I don’t know what she thinks about all of this.” She eyed Opal up and down, and grinned. “You know, my grandfather once said it would be good to have a Beifong in your corner. He met your grandmother when he was younger. Just once, they hardly even spoke to each other before she was off arguing with someone else. Beats me why she would have even been in Omashu, but that’s the way Grandpa tells it. He said she was a hell of a woman, the kind you’d like to have on your side in a fight. From what I can see, you look to be about the same.”

Opal stared down and swallowed. “Well, I hardly think I can be compared to Grandma Toph. I’m almost nothing like her. Up until a few weeks ago I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, or who I wanted to be. My grandmother was fighting and saving the world when she was _twelve._ ”

“Alright, but that’s not the world you lived in. The world hasn’t needed much saving in the last few decades.” She cocked her head. “Did it ever feel like your parents were holding you back?”

Opal opened her mouth to answer _no,_ but she realized that wasn’t true. Instead she bit at her lip. Maylin gave her a look. “I can relate. That’s how my parents are. They wanted the best for me, but keeping me as close as they did only held me back. Maybe there’s a reason we both got airbending, Opal. Maybe it happened so that we could be free.”

“So you think we’re free at this temple?” Opal asked. The notion that freedom was at all a part of her life now made her skeptical.

“Do you think they would stop us if we tried to leave? I know they really want us to stay here forever. But I wonder whether they would actually stop us.” Opal didn’t mention that she’d already determined that she would leave, eventually. Maylin just shrugged. “This may not be freedom, but it’s better than what I had going in Omashu. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, yet. This is already more interesting than the future my parents were raising me for, though.”

Movement caught Opal’s eyes, and she saw that the group of kids were being led out of the hall. After they were gone, it got a lot quieter. “I guess this place is interesting. Mostly I find living here strange. Everything is so different than I’ve ever known.”

“Yeah, but that’s the fun of it.” Maylin stood up, and picked up her bowl. “Would you mind walking with me back to the dormitories? I think I’ll be good if I can find the building. I remember there was a maple tree planted out in front of it.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Opal stood up and they walked out, leaving their bowls stacked with the others at the end of the room. “You’re a lot more optimistic about being here than I was,” she admitted. “How do you know that everything is going to be okay?”

“Oh, I don’t,” Maylin said simply. They left the building and stepped out into the cool night air. “But I don’t think anything disastrous is going to happen. I’ll follow the rules, I’ll learn to airbend. Isn’t that the same plan you have?” Opal nodded slowly. “That’s all I can do. If any problems rise up, well, I’ll deal with them as they come. But until then I’ll just wait. I’m actually pretty patient.” They walked a few more paces. “Good thing, too. It looks like I’m going to need a lot of it here.”

They walked together back toward the bridge to bring them back to the dormitories. There wasn’t anyone around them, so Opal decided to do something. “In a few days they’re going to ask you whether or not you want to stay,” she said. “Nima will wake you up at dawn and they’ll ask you in front of the whole temple. Just so you know. They won’t train you until you vow to join the Air Nation forever.’”

Maylin stared at Opal. “So they’re that serious about that?” Opal nodded. “And you said yes, obviously. And so will I, because it’s pretty much the only choice I have.”

“I guess so,” Opal said.

“Huh.” They continued walking for a while. Midway over the bridge, Maylin spoke again. “It’s a good thing I’m a good liar then, I suppose.” She grinned crookedly over at Opal. “Are you?”

Opal returned the smile. “Yeah, I am.” They reached the mountain and turned right, off to the stairs leading up to the dormitories. “Come find me if you get too bored tomorrow. There’s not a lot to do up here, especially before they let you train.”

“Sounds good,” Maylin said. They shared a grateful look, and Opal realized that after weeks of being alone and away from home, she’d finally made a real friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s taken me three months to get to this point, but the exposition is over. Phew! Opal is settled and we’re ready to begin the long haul. These five chapters are only the very beginning of a story that will stretch longer than I’d ever anticipated when I posted that first chapter. I’ve got my work cut out for me, but it feels good to be at this point, guys. 
> 
> As always, thank you all for reading. I'm grateful for every hit, kudos, and comment this story has received. I appreciate you, dear readers. I really, really do.


	6. The First Refusal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Airbenders arrive, friendships are forged, and Opal finally cracks.

Two weeks or so after Maylin’s arrival, Tenzin brought four new airbenders from the Fire Nation.

First was Ryi, a younger teenager who came from a noble family living in the Fire Nation capital. She certainly had that upper-class Fire Nation look, with honey-golden eyes and sleek, dark hair. Particularly bewildered by the monastic life, she timidly asked a number of questions ranging from how to go about meals in the dining hall to inquiring about the size of their rooms in the dormitories. Yet the girl insisted she wanted to be there, and Opal could tell she was trying. Ryi was quiet, a little bit shy, but altogether pleasant. All in all, Opal liked her.

Next was Hong. Compared to the rest of the Harmonic Convergence airbenders, she was by far the most eager to be there. At thirty she was the oldest, too, and she chatted amiably with anyone and everyone, stressing just how _delighted_ she was to join the Air Nation and its culture. Within a day of arriving she’d adopted a traditional airbenders’ hairstyle and had perfected the customary bow to greet others (which she wasted no chance at employing). Opal was kind of put off by the woman, to be honest. To no one’s surprise, Nima was pleased with Hong’s enthusiasm and had taken to Hong immediately. This became irritating quickly, especially when Nima not-so-subtly compared her to Maylin. (Maylin was rightfully annoyed by this, and Opal had to concur that the gleeful fervor Hong expressed for the Air Nation was at best annoying and, at worst, deeply unsettling.)

The youngest airbender was Ai, an orphan from Fire Fountain City. She was only seven years old and looked small for her age, only barely filling out her robes. She was cute, though, her stringy brown hair cut into a choppy, jaunty bob, and had no shortage of airbenders doting on her. The last of the new airbenders was a young twenty-something named Nara. She too had come from Fire Fountain City, and it quickly became clear that she knew Ai in some capacity. Most of the first day she’d shadowed Ai around the temple, watching as the little girl explored and grew used to her surroundings. Nara watched everyone and everything with a skeptical gaze, which Opal certainly couldn’t blame her for.

Another thing about Nara was that she had quickly caught Maylin’s eye. Opal and Maylin were sitting together at lunch discussing this. The newest recruits were sitting together at the far end of their table, where Nima was chattering on to them about the temple and how they might spend their afternoons. The night before they had all been introduced, but there hadn’t been much time to catch up with the new airbenders since then.

“I do like the look of her,” Maylin said, a grin spreading across her face. Her eyes darted back to Opal’s, and she raised her eyebrows. “How much do you wanna bet I can get her to like me back?”

“None, because airbenders aren’t supposed to gamble,” Opal said, raising a playful eyebrow. The afternoon prior they’d listened to Nima explain why gambling was against the Air Nation principle of rejecting material possessions. Opal had left the lesson with a renewed desire to keep her necklace hidden from the nuns. “But with your charm? It seems reasonable, if she’ll have you. Not everyone goes for girls, Maylin.”

“You think I couldn’t persuade her? I could persuade _anybody._ ” She pointed a chopstick at Opal’s face. “Not everyone sticks to one side. Even if she leans toward men, I think there’s a fair chance she’d go for ladies, as well.”

Opal raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have to tell that to _me_.” She very purposefully turned her head to look down the table to where Nara was sitting. The sunlight coming through the nearest window framed her well. Her black hair was tied back loosely, falling halfway down her back in loose waves. At the moment she was pouring a cup of tea for Ai. “She is rather pretty, but I’ll leave her to you. I’m not exactly looking for any kind of relationship right now.”

Maylin’s grin spread wider. “Opal Beifong, you marvelous girl. I knew there had to be a reason why I liked you so quickly.”

“You mean there was more to it besides the fact that I was pretty much your first and only choice for a friend here?”

Maylin raised a hand to her chest and cast an expression of defeat. “You’ve got me there. You were the only sane candidate.” She perked up a little, her usual confident smile returning to her face. “Do consider that a compliment.”

They grinned at each other. Just then, Opal’s attention was caught by a quiet cough behind her. “Mind if we sit here?” asked a familiar voice. Opal turned her head and saw that Jinora was standing behind her, a polite smile on her face. Another girl stood across the table, by the empty spot beside Maylin.

“Of course not,” Maylin answered, nodding to Jinora. She turned back to look at the other girl. “I’ve met Jinora, here, but not you. The name’s Maylin.”

The other girl smiled and bowed her head. She had a round, pretty face, and Opal was pretty sure she had seen her around the temple with Jinora before. “I’m Luli. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“And this is Opal,” Jinora introduced, gesturing. After setting down a stack of books beside her bowl, she met Opal’s eyes and beamed. “Whom I’ve also met before.”

Opal returned Jinora’s smile before looking back to Luli, who had settled beside Maylin. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve been here for more than a month and there’s plenty of people still haven’t met. I feel like I’ve seen you around before, though.”

“Me too,” Maylin said, staring at something behind Opal and Jinora. “As in, right there.” Maylin gestured with her chin, and Opal turned her head and saw immediately whom she was talking about; a perfect copy of Luli, sitting with another group of girls roughly their own age.

“That’s my twin sister, Peony,” Luli explained. A pang went through Opal’s heart as she was reminded of Wing and Wei. “We’re identical, but you can tell us apart by our hair. We decided years ago that she’s happier wearing her hair down, and mine braided up. It makes it easier for everyone.”

Opal turned back toward the others and tried to shake off the feeling of missing her brothers. “I thought the Air Nation didn't really do family relationships?”

“We usually don't, but look at them,” Jinora said. “They're not just twins, they're identical. Their personalities are pretty similar, too, though you wouldn't judge it by the fact that Peony essentially worships the ground Kita over there walks on. Unlike her sister, Peony doesn't have much of a backbone.”

“I’m guessing Kita is the girl seated in the middle?” Maylin asked, craning her head for a better look.

Luli sighed. “Yeah. She’s not a very nice person. She _really_ doesn’t like Jinora.” Opal turned again and saw the girl in question. There was little about her that stood out; her long brown hair, gray eyes, and robes only marked her as just another ordinary member of the Air Nation. She sat surrounded by a group of girls their age, all of whom were listening raptly as she spoke, gesturing around with her hands.

“That’s a vast understatement,” Jinora grumbled, and the change in her tone caught Opal’s attention. Jinora’s expression was sour, and she stared down at her noodles. “Kita loathes me, and always has. I don’t think she’s said a nice word to me once in my entire life.”

“Sounds like a bully if there ever was one,” Maylin said. She kept watching Kita, a contemplative look on her face. “Do those girls all follow her around like your sister does?”

“Like turtleducks. They just want to be like her. She’s the top student in our lessons. I think her goal is to be the perfect airbender.”

Opal was still watching Jinora, who was grumpily pushing her food around her bowl. “Shouldn’t Jinora be the top student, though? You’re like an airbending prodigy, right?”

Luli snorted and began laughing. Opal noticed that Jinora was just barely blushing. “Oh yeah, Jinora’s a prodigy. Don’t mind me, I’m not laughing because you’re wrong. She just doesn’t like being called a prodigy. She’s the better airbender by far, even though she won’t admit it.” Jinora just wrinkled her nose at Luli, who was unfazed. “Jinora would be the best student except that she’s not in our classes, since she already has her tattoos.”

“I wouldn’t be respected if I trained with your class. The girls don’t like me for the same reason Kita doesn’t; she thinks I didn’t deserve my tattoos.” Jinora straightened her posture and exhaled steadily. “Which is untrue. Kita’s just jealous, and taking her impatience with herself out on me. It’s unpleasant, but bearable.”

The table was quiet for a few moments as the girls continued eating. “Are you close with your sister, Luli?” asked Opal.

“I am, yeah. Despite the company she keeps, she _is_ a good person. She admits that Kita can be kind of aggressive sometimes but insists she’s the best friend she’s ever had. I don’t get it, but then again, she doesn’t get my friendship with Jinora.” She rolled her eyes at this. “Peony thinks she’s pretentious, which is ridiculous.”

“Yeah, because she’s the pretentious one.” Jinora and Luli shared a look, conveying shared annoyance at this. “But enough about that, for now. How’s life at the temple been, Maylin? You’ve been here for a few weeks now.”

Maylin shrugged. “It’s alright. I’m getting by, I like learning to airbend. Food’s good.” She lifted her bowl with a wink. “It would probably be easier if Nima liked me more, though. I swear, that woman’s out to get me.”

“You do challenge her more than I do, or Keyuri does,” said Opal. “Not that I’m saying you shouldn’t. But I think she’s bewildered by you.”

“Well I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t ask questions! I’m not going to just accept everything she says without some solid reasoning behind it. I’m not saying the culture here is wrong or anything. I just didn’t grow up with it.”

“I think she expects us to come here and completely assimilate,” Opal said. “She wants us to all be little Hongs, perfect and ready to be whatever she asks us to be.”

Maylin snorted loudly, and began laughing rapturously. Opal couldn’t help but join in. “Oh, spirits, I can just picture it,” she said, wiping at her eyes. “All of us just miniature versions of her, identical but smaller. Like turtleducks, all waddling behind Nima.”

“Quacking seriously every time she explains how gravely important each and every tradition is,” Opal added, and they laughed harder.

Jinora and Luli watched them, bemused. “Hong seems really nice,” Luli said slowly. “Though I suppose I see your point. She looks very… enthusiastic.”

“Enthusiastic barely covers it. Can you imagine moving across the world, and the first day after arriving at your destination you act like you’ve forgotten all aspects of the culture you grew up in? It’s weird. It’s fine that she’s happy, but I don’t get it. I still feel more Earth Kingdom than I do Air Nation,” Maylin said.

“She even talks like she’s from here,” Opal added. “It doesn’t seem realistic that her accent would change overnight. They haven’t even been here a full day.”

The four of them were quiet, listening in on Nima and Hong’s conversation. After a few moments, Jinora said, “Huh, I guess you’re right. She does sound like us. I hadn’t even noticed it.”

“She’s trying too hard, and with any luck it’s going to come around and bite her in the… back.” Maylin said, changing course at the end of her sentence. Jinora and Luli gaped a little, whereas Opal covered her mouth to keep from laughing. “What? I don’t like try-hards. She would do far better just to be herself.”

“What if this _is_ being herself?” Jinora asked, not unkindly. “I mean, you never know. Maybe she just really feels like she belongs as a member of the Air Nation.”

Maylin set down her chopsticks and stretched her arms behind her, cracking a few joints. “That’s excellent for her, then, but I’m not buying it. Something is up with that one. Just you wait and see.”

***

The next afternoon, Opal and Maylin had the opportunity to meet two of the new airbenders properly.

“Ai!” a voice called, followed by a young girl’s laugh. “Come on, Ai, where’d you go?”

Opal looked up over her book at Maylin, who had been practicing some airbending forms in the grass. They were spending some time outside before they had to meet Nima for lessons that afternoon. Maylin tilted her head toward a tree to their left and Opal saw Ai hiding behind it, her hand over her mouth to quiet her giggling before moving out of sight.

Nara came around the corner of the library and stopped beside Opal, who had been sitting and reading in the grass. “Hello. Opal, wasn’t it?”

“Yup. I take it you’re playing hide and seek with a certain airbender?”

The corner of Nara’s mouth quirked up. “Yes. I don’t suppose you’ve seen her around? She’s been _very_ sneaky and I think she’s been moving between hiding places.” Ai giggled again, and Nara looked at Maylin, who was currently in the midst of an admittedly impressive handstand.

“Hey there, you’re that Nara girl,” Maylin grinned, all charm. She bailed out and returned to her feet. To Opal’s bemusement, she cocked her hip and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m Maylin.”

“Clearly,” Nara said, raising an eyebrow, and she looked instead to the tree. Opal held back a laugh at the look of indignation that crossed Maylin’s face. “If you happen to see Ai around, I’d be very pleased if you would let me know.”

Maylin was still watching Nara, the smile gone from her face. “Uh, can do. I might have heard her around here somewhere, actually.”

“Oh really?” Nara began walking toward the tree. “Now I wonder where…” The same giggle erupted from behind the tree, and Nara quickly leaped forward (with the aid of her bending, to Opal’s approval) to catch Ai. The little girl screamed with laughter, running around the other side of the tree to escape.

“Looks like you found her,” Opal said, smiling.

“There you are! It took me forever to find you,” Nara said. “You did a good job at hiding.”

“I’m the _best_ hider,” said Ai, running past Nara to plop down on the grass near Maylin. Ai addressed Maylin with grave seriousness, “I’m way better than Nara is. I found her hiding spot really quickly.”

“Did you, now? That’s impressive. She must be terrible at hiding, then,” Maylin said, winking at the airbender in question.

Nara paid no attention to Maylin’s attempt at flirting, and merely shrugged. “Oh, I am. But I’ve also got a taller body to hide than you, Ai.”

“That wouldn’t matter to a good hider,” Ai said, and she looked back at Maylin. “Do you wanna play hide and seek with us? At the orphanage we played it in teams and it was fun to try to hide two people at once.”

“I’m game,” Maylin said, and she grinned at Opal. “What about you, Opal? Then the teams will be even.”

Opal knew where Maylin was going with this. “Oh, why not?” She closed her book and stood up. “Do you want to be on my team, Ai? I’m not a very good hider, either. I think I’ll need your help.”

“I wanna be with Maylin!” Ai exclaimed, grabbing Maylin’s hand, and Maylin shot Opal a look. “You be with Nara, okay?”

Nara and Opal looked at each other, and the older girl shrugged. “Alright, Ai. That’s a great idea. Do you two want to go hide first?”

“Yeah!” Ai said, pulling Maylin with her as she ran off. “You guys count to one hundred and then come find us!”

They disappeared around the side of another building, and Opal turned back to Nara. “I hope you don’t mind that we’ve joined,” Opal said politely.

“Of course not. It makes Ai happy, and anything that makes her happy is good in my book.” Nara frowned a little. “I hope you two weren’t busy before we burst in...?”

“Oh, no. Maylin was just goofing around, and I’ve been reading.” She held up her book. “The library here is pretty limited, but I’m making it work.”

Nara nodded. It occurred to Opal that neither of them were counting, but she supposed it didn’t really matter. “That’s good. Have you and Maylin been friends long?”

Opal shook her head. “Only a few weeks. She’s from Omashu, and I’m from Zaofu. Both of us were the only airbenders from our respective cities who chose to come here. It’s interesting that both you and Ai are from the same place.”

“Fire Fountain City isn’t the worst place to live, but not as an orphan. I made sure Monk Tenzin would bring her here. The orphanages in the city weren’t exactly… well-funded.”

Opal frowned. “That’s really unfortunate.” She was unused to poverty, given the way things were run in Zaofu, but she knew it was a real problem in other places. “I really can’t imagine. So it really is better for her here?”

Nara nodded. “By far. She knows it, too. I’m just hoping she’ll adjust well. She’s young enough that I don’t think it should be much of an issue, but you never know. The way they live here is far different than anywhere else in the world, that’s for sure.”

“Oh, you’re telling me. It’s been kind of hard for me, to be honest with you. Maylin’s arrival has made things a hundred times easier.” She paused. “She’s quickly becoming a good friend. Her reasons for coming here are different than mine, but she understands why I decided to join the temple. It was worse before she showed up, when it was just me and Keyuri. I hardly talked to anyone when I first got here.”

They stood there in silence for a minute or so. Nara seemed to be contemplating something, and Opal was content enough to readjust her bookmark. She wished she had a pocket, or a bag, or something. Carrying a book around all of the time wasn’t the most convenient part of her day, that was for sure. It was something she just couldn’t shake, though. Having a book with her was a small thing, but it was a habit she’d carried at home, at least around her family’s compound, anyway. Over the last couple of years their dome had seemed ever smaller and smaller to her, but now Opal missed being there terribly. She missed walking down the halls of her own home, passing by Huan’s artworks and her mother’s meteorites. She missed the twins’ pranks and games, and passing by her father’s study where drew up his architectural plans. He always left the door open so she and her siblings knew it was okay to stop in and say hello. And Junior was so often in there with him, too, sequestered at his own desk in the corner drafting engineering blueprints for individual elements that their father incorporated into his building designs.

Spirits, she missed them so badly.

After what couldn’t have been more than half a minute, Nara interrupted Opal’s thoughts. “So why did you choose to join the temple?”

Opal looked down at her hands clasping the book in front of her. “Honestly? I knew it was the right path. I’ve doubted myself a million times since then, but I knew that I had to do whatever was necessary to be trained as an airbender.”

“I see. And why did Maylin decide to come here? Did she also feel like this was the path she needed to take?”

Opal snorted. “I think she just wanted to leave Omashu. Other than that, I’m not entirely sure. Her reasons are her own, I guess.”

Nara raised her eyebrows. “I see. Well, I suppose I can relate.” She paused. “I have my own personal reasons for coming here, as well.”

“Is it because of Ai?” Opal asked. “You seem rather close to her. How well did you know her before traveling here?”

“I’ve known her for as long as she’s been at the orphanage. It was only down the road from where I lived with my mother. When my brothers left home to study with the Fire Sages, we donated some of their childhood things. Since then I’ve made a point of stopping in weekly to spend time with the kids. Unfortunately the orphanage was rather short-staffed, so they appreciated my help.”

“That’s really sweet,” Opal said, and she meant it. “No wonder she adores you. It’s a good thing she has someone here whom she knows and trusts.”

It was then that they were interrupted by the inevitable shouting of the seven-year old. “It’s been one hundred!” called Ai’s voice, just loud enough that they could hear. “Come find us!” Nara and Opal met eyes, and Opal smiled. 

“We’ll go easy on them?”

“If you don’t mind. It keeps the fun in it for her. Come on.” Nara gestured, and Opal followed her to go and search for their respective friends.

***

_The walls of the temple were bare, and the room she was in was nearly as small as her bedroom. “She’s an airbender,” a woman, standing above her, whispered in horror. Her hair was brown and she was frowning. “Of course she is,” said a man’s voice, happily, just out of sight; he seemed more familiar, but she couldn’t place it. The dream shifted to flying on a bison, sitting in the middle of a huge saddle, feeling impossibly tiny, her hands reaching out to the wind and the clouds around her._

Jinora woke early, and thought nothing of the dream except that she’d had it before. The bits of conversation were so vague as to mean nothing, probably just scraps of various memories thrown together while she slept. By the time she was dressed and heading toward the temple sanctuary, she’d all but forgotten it.

Today was the day the council would ask Hong, Ryi, Nara, and Ai if they were going to join the Air Nation. Jinora did like these ceremonies. Most of the airbenders did, since it was, in essence, a celebration of the growth of their people. She entered the hall and saw Luli sitting near Peony, and was about to head over there before realizing that Kita was seated on Peony’s other side.

 _Sorry,_ Luli mouthed to her, frowning. Kita had probably sat down after Luli had, otherwise Jinora knew her friend wouldn’t have sat there.

 _It’s alright,_ Jinora mouthed back, before scanning the room to see who else she might sit with. Her eyes settled on Opal and Maylin, sitting together in the front row. She made her way towards them and sat on the cushion beside Opal.

“Hey, guys,” she said, keeping her voice quiet. “Mind if I sit?”

Opal shook her head. “Go right ahead. Maylin here is just lamenting the fact that we’re all up so early.”

“It was bad enough when it was me,” Maylin grumbled, and indeed she looked half-asleep. Her hair was tied back very untidily in a bun, and her robes weren’t quite straight. “I’m going to spend this afternoon napping. Thank the spirits we don’t have a lesson with Nima today.”

Jinora smiled in sympathy. “You’ll get used to it eventually. I don’t even think anything of waking up early anymore.”

A thoughtful look spread across Opal’s face. “No, I bet you don’t. I guess that’s a good thing. Have you ever had the chance to sleep in properly?”

“Not really. I like being awake early; I’m used to getting up so I can meditate. I suppose I’ve slept in late a few times when I was ill, but that’s about it. If anything I have a tendency to not sleep at all.”

“My mom suffered from insomnia, sometimes,” Opal said, before an expression of pure sorrow flashed across her features. “I mean, suffers. I’m sure she still does. More now than ever, probably,” she added, and then she looked away.

Suddenly, Jinora noticed how tired Opal looked. Even though the conversation was clearly over, Jinora wanted to do something, to say something comforting or kind. Before she had the chance, however, she realized that Sister Choden was seated and about to begin.

“If everyone would please be seated, we’ll begin soon,” Choden announced. There were the sounds of footsteps and quiet murmuring as everyone got settled. Beside her, Opal straightened her posture and folded her hands neatly in her lap. “We’re still going to perform the ceremony one person at a time, so your patience would be appreciated,” she added, staring dryly toward the back of the room, where many of the children were seated with the caregivers.

Up first was Hong. She seemed excited, and indeed agreed almost too enthusiastically to abide by their laws. (Jinora noticed that Opal cringed, just a bit, nearly every time Hong spoke.) Ryi came in next, and though she looked a bit intimidated by everything, nothing in her expression suggested that she didn’t want to be there. She also agreed to join the Air Nation, and joined Hong sitting further down the first row.

Next, the doors opened again to reveal Nara, with Ai balanced on her hip.

“She didn’t want to walk in alone,” Nara explained, almost accusingly, before Choden even asked her to approach the council. She walked down the aisle with her back straight and her chin up. Ai hid her head against Nara’s shoulder, only peeking out at the crowd once Nara had stopped in front of Choden.

“We can begin with Ai,” Nima suggested, and at Choden’s nod, Nima stood and approached the two. “Would you mind standing off to the side for a moment?” she asked of Nara.

Nara stared at her for a moment, and then nodded. Carefully, she lowered Ai to the ground. “Here you go, now. There’s Nima, you know her. You good?”

Ai nodded, and Nara walked over to the front row of airbenders and sat on the ground in front of them. Satisfied, Nima turned to Ai and kneeled down, so she was at the girl’s level. “We’ve been so happy to have you here at the Eastern Air Temple, Ai. Do you like it here?” Her voice had that syrupy sweet tone some people used when they were talking to children. Nima was earnest, Jinora knew, but probably unused to children. Working with them definitely wasn’t her specialty, and she couldn’t help but think that it showed.

The little girl nodded again. “Yeah. It’s better than the orphanage was. It’s cleaner and the people are nicer, too.”

Nima beamed. “I’m glad to hear it. We brought you, Nara, Hong, and Ryi here to ask you if you wanted to stay here. The Air Nation is a very special community, full of people who support and care for each other. Everyone here is an airbender. Most of us were born here, but a few others became airbenders, like you did. The only rule is that when a person joins the Air Nation, they join for the rest of their lives. They become a member of our people, and they live here in this temple and learn how to airbend. We all stay here so that we’re protected, and safe. Would you like to stay here and be a part of the Air Nation, Ai?”

Ai bit her lip, thinking. She turned around and looked at Nara, questioningly.

Nara nodded at her encouragingly, the corner of her mouth lifting in a smile. “You can stay here, Ai, or go back to the Fire Nation. Which would you rather do?”

“Stay here. I didn’t like the orphanage,” she said, frowning.

“Alright, then. That’s good. Now how about you tell Sister Nima that?”

Ai looked at Nima. “I wanna stay here,” she said again. After a moment, she added, “Pretty please?”

There was gentle laughter, and Nima joined in it. “Absolutely, Ai. All of us here are happy that you’d like to stay with us. We promise to take care of you and teach you everything there is to know about being an airbender.” She bowed to the little girl, who reciprocated with a clumsy bow of her own. “Now, why don’t you go take a seat by Ryi and Hong?”

Hong waved at the girl from her cushion, and Ryi offered a shy smile. Ai frowned. “I don’t wanna.”

Nima looked to be at a loss, but Nara stood up and took Ai’s hand when she offered it. “Here, why don’t you go sit by Maylin and Opal?” She led Ai to the other end of the row and stopped in front of Maylin. “Do you mind?” she asked.

Maylin shook her head. “No, of course not. Here, Ai. You can share my seat with me, how about that?” Ai settled down on Maylin’s lap, who looked slightly dazed by the whole thing. Nara gave her a nod, and then went back up to face Nima and the council.

The ceremony went on from there as it had for the rest of the airbenders. Nima sat back down and Choden took charge, giving the same speech as the others had heard. By this point even Jinora was growing a little tired of hearing it. Nara listened intently, though. She only moved when Sister Guang recited their law; Nara’s head turned to face her, and Jinora thought that she saw a shift in Nara’s expression as the old nun spoke.

They all looked back to Choden for the end of it. “To be a member of the Air Nation is a permanent decision,” she said. “Our culture is close, supportive, and private. It is true that our law is uncompromising. This was a necessary decision to keep our people safe, and to preserve our culture. We’ve let you stay with us these past days in order to give you a full understanding of what you’re agreeing to. Do you understand what all of this means?”

Nara nodded gravely. “I do.”

Choden smiled. “Alright. As a representative of the Air Nation, I ask you, Nara; do you choose to join the Air Nation?”

There was a beat. And then, clear enough as to be heard through the whole room, Nara answered. “No, I don’t.”

The airbenders in the crowd began to murmur. Jinora glanced over at Opal, who looked surprised. Maylin’s eyes widened and her head jutted forward a bit as she realized what Nara had said. “I see. Very well,” Choden said crisply. Beside her, the nuns on the council had varying expressions; Nima’s hand was over her mouth, and both Dolma and Bhuchung looked uncomfortable. Guang, on the other hand, was glaring quite fervently at Nara. “Nara, you may gather whatever things you might still have with you. We will saddle a bison, and Sister Dolma will take you to the nearest village in an hour.” She looked to Dolma, who nodded and stood up, leaving quickly through a door in the side of the hall.

Choden stood, then, and quickly the murmuring died down. She took several slow, limping steps forward, and Nara instinctively backed out of her way. Choden stopped and stood where Nara had been standing, centered before them all. “This morning we have welcomed three new airbenders to our culture, members who will grow alongside us, and live their lives among us. May today be a reminder that joining the Air Nation is indeed a choice. No person must choose to be with us. Our self-isolation is not cruel, nor forced. Rather, it is protection, and under our law we all benefit. But while it is indeed a choice, those who decline,” with this she met Nara’s eyes, “Are losing a lot more than they may think they are gaining.” A moment passed, and then Choden looked back at the crowd. “Go on to breakfast, everyone. We’re done here.”

People began to stand up and head for the doors, casting glances over their shoulders at Nara, who still stood at the front of the room. She watched defiantly as Choden hobbled back to Nima, who began to help her. Jinora’s attention shifted when Opal spoke up. “That’s it?” she asked, her voice filled with indignation. “They can’t just drop her in the nearest village. She’s from the Fire Nation. That’s halfway across the world!”

Maylin was busy trying to placate Ai, who was questioning why Nara didn’t want to stay. Jinora met Opal’s eyes hesitantly. “I’m sure they’ll give her the means to make her way wherever she wants to go. I think there’s an ocean port a few days’ travel from the village. Nara will be able to get home from there.”

“It’s not that easy!” Opal snapped, and Jinora flinched. The other girl’s fists were clenched, and there was definitely anger in her eyes. “You don’t realize just how secluded these mountains are. This isn’t right. This isn’t right at _all._ ”

“No, it isn’t,” Nara interrupted. She was standing, the other airbenders leaving the room giving them all a wide berth. “But I figured something like this would probably happen. It won’t be easy, but I’ll make it home.” She glanced over her shoulder at the nuns, who were still slowly shuffling out the door Dolma had left through. “It might be easiest to go up to Ba Sing Se, and then write home to my mother from there.”

“We can’t just let them drop you off in some random village. Can’t they let you wait until Tenzin comes back?” Opal asked angrily. “If not here, then down there? There has to be an inn or something, right?”

Nara considered for a moment. “I suppose it won’t hurt to ask. I could hole up in some village for a few weeks.” She turned to Maylin and Ai, who was sniffling a little. “Maylin?”

Maylin glanced up. Jinora thought she still looked a little jarred, but still she raised her chin up and met the girl’s gaze. “Nara.”

“Will you keep an eye on her?” Nara asked, nodding toward Ai. The small girl climbed out of Maylin’s lap and went over to hug her. In a move unlike any they’d seen from her so far, Nara bit her lip. “I know she’s going to be fine here, but she likes you,” she said, her arms around the girl and picking her up for a proper hug. Her eyes, however, remained locked with Maylin’s.

Maylin blinked, and then cleared her throat. “Uh, yeah. I can do that. I promise I’ll make sure she’s alright.”

Nara nodded once at her. “Thank you. It means a lot to me.” She focused on the girl in her arms. “You’ll be alright here, baby girl. I’m gonna go back to Fire Fountain City, okay?”

Ai wiped at her eyes, seemingly trying to put on a brave face. “Back to your mama, and the glass shop?”

“Exactly. I still have a little bit of family back there waiting on me. Your new family is here, though. Everyone at this temple is going to make sure you’re taken care of, and taught, and loved.” She smiled, then, for the first time since arriving at the temple. “Like Maylin and Opal, here. Okay?”

“Yeah. I’m still gonna miss you, though,” Ai sniffled, and she buried her face in Nara’s neck again. Nara just soothed the girl’s back, and sighed.

“We’ll all keep an eye on her,” Opal said, a definite edge in her voice. She glanced quickly at Jinora, and then back to Nara. “We all will.”

“I don’t doubt that. I wouldn’t be leaving her here if I didn’t think that.” Nara set the girl back down. “I guess I need to go back to my room. There’s not much there, but I’ve got a few things I brought along with me tucked under my mattress.”

“I’ll go with you,” Maylin offered. Nara raised that eyebrow again. “I know my way there better than you do It just makes sense.”

“Alright. Thank you.” Nara turned to Opal. “I might not catch you around before they whisk me out of here, so I wanted to tell you that I admire your bravery, Opal. I knew coming here that I probably wouldn’t want to stay, but I did want to see Ai get settled. I don’t look down on you for choosing to do this, though.”

Opal looked surprised, the anger in her expression fading. “Thanks, Nara. I don’t blame you for leaving, either.” She seemed to be thinking for a moment, and then her gaze refocused on Nara. “If it’s not too much to ask, could you do me a favor? It’s not… a lot. If it’s not too much trouble, could you write and mail a letter for me?”

Nara’s expression softened. “Yeah, of course. Where to?”

Opal sighed. “To Zaofu. I’d write it myself, but there isn’t really time. Just address it to the matriarch. My, um, mother. It’ll get to her. Let her know I’m fine, and that I love her, my dad, and my brothers.” She stared down at her lap. “Tell them I like learning how to airbend. I’m safe. Whatever else you put doesn’t really matter.”

“Got it. I’ll send it as soon as I can, Opal. I promise.” Opal gave her a grateful look, and then Nara turned back to Maylin. “Come on, let’s go. It probably won’t be long before they come fetch me. You too, Ai.” The three left quickly, the remaining airbenders in the room moving out of the way as they approached the tall, wide doors.

This left Opal and Jinora. Opal was still staring down at the ground, her back ramrod straight. Eventually she exhaled, her frustration apparent. “I guess that’s all I can do. It’s not right, though.” She met Jinora’s eyes again. “Do you see that? How wrong it is of them to just drop her off somewhere, with no reliable way of getting home?”

Jinora was torn. She could see the fire behind Opal’s olive green eyes, but this was the _council._ And the law was the law. “It’s not ideal, but… it’s our law that she can’t stay here. Nara is being treated no differently than anyone else who breaks the law. It was her decision to come here, just like it’s her decision to go. Everything else is… out of our hands.”

They watched each other for several moments; Opal’s expression hardened. “You’re just like the nuns. And for a moment I’d wondered if you were different.” She got up from the cushion and huffed, her hands balling into fists. “You know, there’s a world outside of this temple. Nara’s not just going to disappear when she leaves. It’s going to be hard for her. There’s nothing for airbenders out there! No one to teach them, or guide them. Just a bunch of lost people who woke up one day with the ability to bend. None of us asked for this!”

“I didn’t...” Jinora faltered. People were staring, but Opal waited, her arms crossed. “I know you didn’t choose to be an airbender.”

“Are you sure about that? Because I think that’s exactly how everyone in this temple is acting. Like we chose this. Sure, I decided to live at the temple. So did Maylin, and Keyuri, and the others. But what was the other option? Stay out in the world and just have this bending, and not know how to use it? Or even control it? My mom knew Avatar Aang and Tenzin _personally_ when she was growing up, and she couldn’t help me at all. And the rest of the people? There aren’t airbending scrolls or guides around that we can learn from. Whatever you guys don’t have is locked up in libraries. You can’t get to it. I _tried_!” She was practically raging, now, gesturing with her hands as she spoke. “I left a lot behind when I came here. My family, most importantly. But there’s a whole world out there that I grew up dreaming of exploring. I wanted to travel and see the world like my mom did, like my grandma did. I had to give all of that up just so I could learn airbending. I want to airbend! I want it more than _anything_! But every morning I wake up alone in that damn bedroom and wonder if I made a mistake by coming here!” Opal stomped off, only making it a few steps before turning back and staring at Jinora. “You don’t know what that’s like. None of this is fair to us, and it’s especially not fair to Nara. I really don’t blame her for leaving. There are times I wish I’d decided to go, too.”

Opal stopped, her breathing jagged from her ranting. Jinora couldn’t think of anything to say, so they stared at each other for a few more moments until Opal turned and left. Her footsteps echoed in the hall, so unlike anyone else at the temple, Jinora noticed. She didn’t move until she heard the door at the back of the hall slam shut.

Jinora didn’t understand how any of this was her fault. The rational side of her brain knew Opal was just taking her anger out on her. But Opal had seemed fine since she’d arrived at the temple, and so had Keyuri and Maylin. Jinora wasn’t close with any of them, to be sure, but she’d spoken to all of them on more than one occasion. None of the girls had seemed angry or upset since arriving at the temple. There had been nothing to suggest that any of this was lingering under the surface. In short, Jinora felt completely blindsided.

And yet. It had seemed so personal. The way Opal glared at her had been jarring. Jinora wasn’t used to anger, not like that. _You’re just like the nuns. And for a moment I’d wondered if you were different._ Different in what way? Jinora loved her people, and loved being of them. Their traditions and culture were important to her. She couldn’t just separate the law from that.

She looked around her. The hall was empty now, everyone gone to breakfast or wherever else. The dormitories. The bison stables. A voice was niggling at the back of Jinora’s mind, a memory from a month or so prior, when Sister Choden had gathered the temple together a few days before Keyuri arrived; _remember, in the beginning, to keep an eye on the new airbenders._ Opal’s outburst felt like something the nuns should know about. Furthermore, the fact that Opal was sending a message—however indirectly—to someone outside of the temples _definitely_ felt like something they should know about. It could threaten their security. Yet Jinora couldn’t shake the feeling that there was no harm in what Opal had requested. What bad could come from Opal telling her mother that she loved her?

And yet. It would be doing the right thing to tell the nuns. But what would doing so mean for Opal?

With a tired sigh, Jinora rose from her seat, off in search of a breakfast she wasn’t sure she would be able to stomach, not until she could decide what she was going to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #unapologeticallycontinuestoaddoriginalcharacters
> 
> And things begin to happen! Hurrah!
> 
> It’s been a while, so this chapter is somewhat longer than my general goal. Like... over a thousand words longer. Ha. Could I have edited it down? Probably. But it’s been over a month since I’ve last updated, and mostly I just wanted to put this up and move forward. The last few weeks have been the busiest of my year, probably, and hopefully moving forward I will continue to be able to make time in the evening to write. The unfortunate truth is that my homework has to come first, which is annoying when what I’d much rather be doing is working on this story. (Although sometimes I do put the fanfic first. I am doing exactly that as I type this. Shhh.) Anyway, I’ll continue to do my best. Thanks for reading!


	7. A New Responsibility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An eventful evening is had at the Eastern Air Temple.

Opal knew she needed to apologize to Jinora. She just didn’t know how to go about doing it. The issue was less about admitting she’d been wrong and more that she barely knew Jinora, and had no idea how her outburst had affected her. Were she and Jinora friends? At the very least, they were friendly acquaintances. They’d eaten a few meals together, sure, and there was that day in the laundry. Nevertheless, Opal felt that those few times hardly counted, especially after yesterday’s incident.

“You just have to do it,” Maylin told her. They were sitting together in their usual classroom, whispering while Nima led the introductory history lesson for Ryi and Hong at the other end of the room. “Though, only if you want to. Do you regret anything you said to her?”

“Yes? I shouldn’t have snapped, and I definitely implied that she was a part of the problem. I made it personal when… it really shouldn’t have been. But I stand by most of what I said. Jinora _doesn’t_ get it. She couldn’t see how wrong it was that the nuns just booted Nara from the temple with nowhere to go.”

“Is that her fault, though?” Opal and Maylin turned their heads, and Keyuri was looking at them from where she sat at the next table. She shrugged at them. “Of course she thinks that way. They all grew up here, they don’t know any better. It’s not like Hong over there who _should_ know better.” They all cast disapproving glances at the woman, who was in the midst of an excited conversation with Nima about the traditional diet of air bison.

Opal sighed. “I guess you’re right. I should try to find her later and apologize.”

“I mean, probably,” Maylin said. She glanced quickly at Nima, before looking back to Opal. “Think about it this way. What would your family want you to do? Your parents, or whomever. Obviously they’re not here, but I know you would value their opinion if they were.”

That was an easy answer. Opal hardly had to even think about it. “Mom would want me to forgive and move forward.” She thought about her mom’s relationship with Opal’s aunt, whom she’d never met. For years her mom had been trying to reach out to Lin, but nothing had changed between them since long before Opal was born. “Even if Jinora is upset and doesn’t forgive me, it’s the right thing to do. I should try to make things right.”

“Well, I have a feeling she will. I feel like forgiving someone can be tied into the whole balance thing, somehow,” Maylin said, and after that their conversation had to end because Nima came over to check on them.

The rest of the lesson passed with little fanfare, though Opal wanted to bang her head into the desk by the end of it. Hong got so excited that she even interrupted Nima a few times with questions, which of course turned into unbearably long tangents from Nima about the most ancient of the Air Nomads. Keyuri was grinding her teeth, and Maylin spend most of the two hours tapping her foot impatiently. Ryi looked torn as to whether or not she should be annoyed or just go along with Hong’s enthusiasm. By the time the lesson was over, Opal was aching to go. As they were getting ready to leave, however, Nima asked Opal to stay behind.

“If you don’t mind, Opal, I would like to bring you along with me to meet with the council of elders,” Nima said, a benign smile on her face. Maylin raised an eyebrow at Opal over Nima’s shoulder on her way out the door. “I don’t think you’ve met any of the council besides myself and Sister Choden, no?”

Opal blinked. Something about this felt like trouble, and the _last_ thing she was in the mood for was to be around Choden. Opal hadn’t had a chance to see Nara again before she was escorted from the temple, and she didn’t know what had happened to her. “No, I don’t think so,” she said, holding back her frown. “Is there any particular reason why the council wants to meet me?”

“I’ll explain as we walk to Choden’s study. That’s where the five of us usually gather when there are discussions to be had.” They walked outside, and headed in the direction of the south mountain. “As you may have noticed, almost every airbender has certain chores that they complete to help contribute to the running of the temple. That way, the burden of keeping up the temple remains light. This morning I was speaking with Sister Bhuchung and Sister Dolma, and Bhuchung said she might know of an assignment which would be good for you. I’ll not spoil the surprise, though,” she said. Opal wasn’t sold by the twinkle in her eye. “I do think you’ll like it, however.”

“I see.” She really didn’t have much to go on. It was hard for her to trust what Nima was saying. Maybe that had heard about her outburst at Jinora? At that thought, Opal stilled. Was this a ruse to get her to come talk with them? “Will Maylin and Keyuri be assigned their chores soon?” she asked, attempting to keep up the conversation.

Nima’s lips pressed together. “We haven’t yet decided where exactly Maylin’s talents would be best appreciated. Keyuri began helping out in the bison stables last week, however.”

Opal hadn’t known this, but then again, she hardly spoke with Keyuri outside of their lessons or the occasional studying session. Perhaps that explained why Keyuri’s patience level had gone down over the last couple of days, though. “Oh, I didn’t know that. That’s good.”

“Oh yes, I agree. Keyuri has experience with animals, you know, she came from a family of farmers. I hear that she’s taken to it quite well. There are a few girls her age who help down there as well, and I think she might yet become friends with a few of them.” Opal had the feeling that Keyuri probably didn’t like animals all that much judging by the fact that she’d so eagerly left her family’s farm behind, but she said nothing. They began up a set of stone stairs carved into the mountain. Opal stayed quiet, thinking about what might happen between her and the council. Idly she wondered if the Air Nation administered punishments. They practiced nonviolence, of course, but there were other forms of discipline. Someone had to be doing the hard labor around the temple, she realized. If she messed up, would that be her?

On top of all of this, there was still the issue of Nara. Opal had been able to see that Choden was angry with her for refusing the vow. Whether it was a personal offense or something bigger was hard to say. There had been a lot of gossip around the temple since it happened. Mostly people wondered why she didn’t want to stay with them. It was beyond most of the airbenders’ comprehension, and had sparked a lot of debate on the issue. So it was no small thing that Nara had denied to join the Air Nation, and in front of the entire temple, at that.

After taking a long, confusing route which included several flights of stone stairs and cutting through at least two unfamiliar buildings, they made it to a tall tower in the same style as the rest of the temple. Opal realized she could see the top of it all the way from outside of her dormitory, on the northernmost mountain. “We’re just about there!” Nima said, guiding Opal inside. They ascended the stairs, Nima chattering at her over her shoulder the whole way. “The others should be waiting, as I did tell them I would bring you immediately after our lesson. I don’t think this should take very long at all. Ah, here we are.”

The first thing Opal noticed as they entered the study was that it was well lit. Windows lined two of the walls, and sunlight and the sounds of birds chirping filtered in. There was a large desk at one end of the room with a simple wooden chair behind it. Near it was a tall bookshelf, filled with books that looked older than most of the ones Opal had seen in the library. At the other end of the room, the four other women of the council were seated upon cushions gathered together in a circle. The only other furniture in the room were several wooden chests on which sat various relics; a few vases, a jade figurine of who looked to be Avatar Yangchen, and several sets of worn wooden prayer beads.

Opal stood there taking her surroundings in as Nima crossed the room to sit on an empty cushion. She gestured for her to come nearer. “Come now, Opal. Take a seat. As you can see, this is an informal meeting. We just want to get to know you better.”

It felt anything but informal, but Opal sat down on the empty cushion between Nima and another of the nuns, whom she recognized but didn’t know the name of. “Welcome, Opal,” said Choden. The head nun looked just as fragile as always, though the intensity of her stare made Opal immediately uncomfortable. “Thank you for coming here to speak with us. The five of us are, of course, the council of elders at the Eastern Air Temple. Shall we start with introductions?”

The woman seated to Opal’s right smiled, and bowed her head low to her. “My name is Dolma. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you properly, Opal.” Dolma’s eyes were interested and bright, and though the wrinkles around her eyes betrayed her age, Opal didn’t get the impression that Dolma was quite so immobile as Choden. She didn’t look as if she were angry about anything, so Opal took that as a good sign that perhaps she really wasn’t in trouble.

The woman seated beside Dolma spoke next. “I’m Bhunchung,” she announced, a wide smile on her face. She looked like someone’s sweet, fat old grandmother, the kind who would give you candy despite your parents telling her not to. Her robes billowed around her and her silvery white hair fell down past her back, worn loose. “I tend to matters of training at the temple. Indirectly, of course. It’s been quite a while since I’ve taught any lessons of my own, although I do envy Cepla the opportunity of teaching you and the other new airbenders.” She grinned warmly at Opal. “Alas, my time for that is done. I might yet stop by during your training and say hello, however.”

“Yes, yes, you miss being a teacher,” said the last woman, who was sitting to Choden’s right. Her eyes were narrowed at Bhuchung and her patience seemed to be dwindling; she then turned her attention to Opal. “I am Sister Guang,” she said in a sharp voice. Opal recognized her then as the woman who had recited the law during all of the new airbenders’ vowing ceremonies. She was a reedy woman, her hair held up in a tight bun, and somewhat resembled a crane with the eyes of a cat-owl. “And of course you should very well know Choden and Nima by now.”

“I should hope so!” Nima said, smiling nervously. She did not look entirely comfortable sitting beside Guang. “After all of the lessons we’ve had, things would be quite amiss if Opal did not know me.”

“Indeed,” Choden noted dryly. The nuns’ heads all faced her again, turning in perfect synchronization, which Opal found more than a little creepy. “So, Opal. Have you grown accustomed to your life here at the Eastern Air Temple?”

All eyes turned to her in that same manner, and Opal swallowed. “Um, I think I have. There’s still so much I don’t know, of course, but I’ve learned a lot in my lessons already.”

“Your progress as a student is outstanding,” Nima said, dimpling. “Our history can be long and difficult to learn, but you’re doing quite well, especially given the late start.” Opal looked at her, and Nima smiled reassuringly. “I do mean that, Opal. If you keep up your dedication, there is no reason why you won’t someday catch up with everyone. It will take some years, of course, but I have no doubt that you’re perfectly capable.”

“And what about your airbending lessons?” asked Bhuchung. “How do you feel you’ve been progressing?”

That was an easier question. “Well, Master Cepla is an exceptional teacher. And I really do love learning. I think that I’m doing okay.”

Beside her, Dolma smiled encouragingly. “It’s a very good sign that you love airbending, Opal. It means you’re on the right path.” Bhuchung and Nima both nodded in agreement. “Now, are you happy you chose to come here and join the Air Nation?”

There was a beat in which Opal imagined telling the truth. The entire, ambiguous truth, in which she was sure of nothing; the truth she’d given Jinora a small glimpse of just the day before. However, the instinct to lie sank in quickly. “Oh, absolutely. I knew I needed to come here to become a true airbender. There was never any question about it.” Here she smiled brightly, summoning confidence she didn’t have. “I can’t say it’s been easy, but every day I’m here I feel more and more certain that I belong here. I’m very grateful to the Air Nation for accepting me.”

Bhuchung, Dolma, and Nima all smiled at her answer; Guang merely continued looking like she would have rather been elsewhere, but even Choden looked a little pleased. “That is good to hear, Opal,” Dolma replied, clasping her hands in her lap. “We’re all very grateful you chose to become one of our own, as well. Now, Nima may have mentioned the other reason why we asked you to come meet with us. You’re aware that every airbender here at the Eastern Air Temple is assigned to perform certain chores?” When Opal nodded, she continued. “Excellent. We think that we have come up with a task for you to do once or twice each week. It’s not exactly a chore, per se, but we don’t wish to impede you from your airbending training too much. Cepla is quite adamant that we don’t overwork you, as she says she sees much potential in you.”

This was news to Opal, albeit good news. “Alright. What do you have in mind?”

Bhuchung smiled kindly toward Opal. “There is an elderly airbender, Yun, who requires assistance throughout the day. She’s mostly bedridden, though there are days she can make it outside. Mostly she just wants for company, the poor dear.”

“Yun is a darling. She’s ninety-two years old, and is the oldest airbender in the Air Nation. We thought it might do both of you well to spend some time together,” Dolma said. “Our idea is to arrange a few afternoons a week for you to go and spend a few hours with her. Read to her, talk with her, that sort of thing. There’s a bell that she rings if she needs any assistance, so you won’t necessarily be responsible for her health. We just thought this would be a wonderful way for you to come to know a member of our temple outside of your usual circle.”

This was not at all what Opal had been expecting, but she didn’t think it sounded awful, necessarily. “Do you think you would enjoy that, Opal?” Nima asked, a hopeful expression on her face.

Opal plastered on another smile. “I think so. When do I get to meet her?”

“Sister Nima will escort you to Yun’s room following lunch tomorrow, if that is all right by you. After that it will be up to you to arrange times to visit with her,” said Choden. “Sister Nima will check each week that you’re not neglecting your commitment, but we don’t anticipate that being a concern.” She cast an appraising look at Opal. “Is that understood?”

Opal nodded. “I understand, Sister Choden.” And she did. This was not an optional chore, that much was clear. Well. That was fine. She’d survived so far, and how bad could hanging out with an elderly airbender be? Choden and the others probably expected that Yun’s traditional ways would rub off on her or something, and that wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. She could play along. She knew what to do.

Choden smiled at her again, though there was no hint of happiness in her expression. “Excellent. I think that is all we needed to discuss today.” She looked around the circle. “Is there anything else we needed to cover?”

Guang shook her head. “No, I don’t think there is. You’re excused, Opal. The council has serious matters to attend to.”

Opal held back a sigh of relief. She stood up and bowed to the nuns. “Thank you very much for everything, again.”

“Of course, Opal,” Nima said, and she rose up from her seat. “Let’s see if we can find someone to help you find your way back to familiar surroundings. I know you haven’t spent much time around this part of the temple, yet.”

Opal noticed Choden and Guang watching her as she left the room, but soon enough she was back outside where she could breathe easily. Nima quickly flagged down an airbender to direct Opal back toward the center mountain. Unsurprisingly, she’d never met the middle aged woman before, but she didn’t seem very interested in Opal. She left Opal with a bow and a hasty goodbye as soon as the bridge back to the center mountain was in sight. Opal crossed it alone, passing by a group of toddlers being led by several caretakers.

She almost wished she’d asked what had happened to Nara. Part of her was ashamed she hadn’t, but her self-preservation had won out. Opal knew that Maylin didn’t know, either, so for the time being they were in the dark. Would she ever find out what happened to Nara? She resolved to. She wasn’t going to live the rest of her life at the Eastern Air Temple. The longer she was there, though, the more it felt like she was trapped. The open skies here felt more restricting than the platinum domes in Zaofu had, that was for sure. And yet it would be so easy to just give up. Painful, but easy. She could follow the Air Nation’s customs, even grow to believe in their ways. Hong was already well along that path, and it had only been a few days. What would Opal be like in two years, or five? She realized that most airbenders didn’t achieve mastery until they were older. Most of the airbenders with newer tattoos looked no younger than twenty-five, or even thirty. But there were no options for Opal to learn airbending outside of the temples. What if she stayed here for ten years, or more? There was no way of knowing if she would still want to leave after that much time had passed, just like there was no way of knowing how her family would receive her after having been gone that long.

She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t. So, she would just have to train as hard as she could, then. And when she finally achieved mastery and got the matching tattoos… she would leave. (To her surprise, Opal had found that she liked the mastery tattoos. She could imagine the blue tracing down her arms, a permanent symbol of her success, of everything she had done to get to that point.)

Deserting the temple as soon as they accepted her as one of their masters perhaps wasn’t the nicest thing she could do, but she had no better plan. Well. It would be fine. Opal doubted the Air Nation would pursue her. And then she could help all of the other airbenders out in the world, the ones who couldn’t or wouldn’t sell themselves over to the Air Nation. She could teach them. Maybe Maylin would come with, too, and help her. Either way, she would fix the wrongs the Air Nation had done, to her, and to Nara. She would find Nara again, at the very least, and do what she could to help her. That was all Opal could cling to. Someday, somehow, she would make things right again. In her own way, she supposed, she would restore balance.

***

Sometime later Opal found Maylin playing with Ai near the dormitories, climbing a maple tree. Ryi was sitting on a stone ledge with another few girls watching them in bemusement, and she waved shyly at Opal when she approached. “Do you think that’s safe?” Opal called to Maylin, smiling. She stood beneath the tree with her head craned up to see them, a hand on her hip.

Maylin grinned down at her, and Opal nearly laughed when Ai grinned in an almost identical manner, the only difference being the two teeth Ai was missing. “Don’t spoil the fun, Opal. Climbing trees is good for the soul!”

“Yeah, Opal! It’s fun! And I’m the best climber, see?” Ai asked, and Opal saw that she was hanging upside down, hanging from her legs.

“I see, Ai.” Opal gave the girl a thumbs up. She then looked to Maylin, who was watching Ai clumsily bend bursts of air, still upside down. “You know, Maylin, I’m not entirely sure this is what Nara meant when she asked you to watch over Ai,” she said, smiling.

Maylin rolled her eyes. “Alright, _mom._ No having fun with the kid, got it.” She swung down from the branches, her feet landing on the stone walkway with a quiet _huff._ “I spoke with Nara before she left, remember? We had a conversation about things. She asked if I’d watch over Ai, but I’m fairly sure that this isn’t _against_ what she wanted.”

Opal raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What kinds of things?”

“Just things,” Maylin said, and she ignored Opal to crane her neck up at the tree. “Get down here, Ai. It’s almost time for dinner. I think I overheard someone this morning saying there would be dumplings, and I for one am excited.”

“Dumplings are good but I want fish,” Ai said. She scrambled down the tree with the speed of a winged lemur. “Why don’t they eat meat here?”

“Well, kiddo, I think it’s because airbenders _really_ like animals. Like the flying bison.”

Ai landed on the ground, and nodded. “Makes sense. We rode on one of them to get here. His name was Oogi. He was a nice bison.”

“There you go. Airbenders care about animals like Oogi almost as much as they care about people. That’s why they don’t eat them.” Opal raised her eyebrows at Maylin. “What? That’s basically the same thing as Nima’s _all life is equally sacred_ and _that’s why we disavow all violence_ lecture, right? It’s just the abridged version.” She punched Opal lightly on the arm. “Come on, let’s go get dinner. I’m hungry enough that I _could_ eat a bison.”

When they arrived at the dining hall Ai was ushered over to sit with the other girls her age, and Opal and Maylin were left to eat by themselves. Dinner was mostly uneventful. Opal could tell Maylin wanted to ask about the council, but they were surrounded on all sides by various airbenders enjoying the dinner. Many, Opal noticed, were gossiping about Nara’s botched vowing ceremony.

Not long after she was finished eating, Opal saw Jinora come in, chatting quietly with Luli as they looked around for a spare seat.

Maylin noticed, too. “I’m guessing you haven’t had the time to apologize to her yet?”

“No, not yet. Do you mind if we go? You’re done, right?” Opal didn’t want to face Jinora in front of everyone, and there was the chance she would come over and sit by them.

“Yeah, sure. Come on, we’ll slip out the side door. I was planning on heading that direction, anyway.” They left and Opal followed Maylin out the side door, down a hallway passing by the kitchens, and out another door into the cool evening.

“So where are we headed?” Opal asked. Above them the sky was fading from light blue to lilac, night slowly closing in on them.

“The laundry. There are sewing supplies in there, right?” Opal nodded, remembering the day she’d gotten her boots, the day Jinora had come to mend her robes. “Good. I need a pair of scissors. I’m thinking it’s about time I get a haircut. I could trim up your bangs for you, too, if you want.”

Opal reached up and held a section of her bangs between her fingers, testing the length. It was true that they were longer than she usually let them grow when she was at home. Before long, they’d cover her eyes. “Oh, that’d be great. I just figured I would have to let them grow out, but if you’re willing, sure.”

Maylin smiled. “Yeah, no problem. You can help me with mine, too. I’ll probably need the help. But anyway, what was that with Nima, earlier? What did the nuns want?”

As they walked, Opal recapped her meeting with the council of elders. She finished just as they made it to the laundry. The room was empty of people, and there was hardly any light coming through the windows, so Opal searched around for a candle to light. “So basically I have to help out the oldest airbender at the temple a few times a week. Nothing major. It felt like an interview or something, though. I thought Sister Guang was going to throw me out the window, though.”

“Is that the really strict looking one?”

“Yeah. She talked at the ceremonies, remember? She read the law out and glared at us.” Finally Opal managed to light a candle, and she saw Maylin standing in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips.

“Ah, yes. Her. What a woman. You know, I always imagined airbender nuns as nice, wise old people, but she really doesn’t fit the image. I can believe she would drop Nara alone in the middle of nowhere, or worse.” Maylin took a basket of sewing supplies from the shelf, and rummaged through it until she found a pair of basic sewing scissors. “These will have to work. Is there a mirror anywhere in here, or do we need to go back to the dormitories?”

“Uhhh. Let me look. I don’t think so?” They searched the room, but there was no mirror. “Yeah, I guess it’s back to the dormitory. We’ll have to bring the scissors back when we’re done, though.”

“That’s fine. Come on, we might as well hurry before everyone gets back from dinner and crowd the place.” Their dormitory wasn’t far, thankfully. Maylin looked contemplative as they walked. “I guess it makes sense that they wanted to see you. They probably just wanted to check that you’re not having second thoughts or whatever. I wouldn’t be surprised if they haul me in next.”

“I guess. Nima mentioned that they hadn’t decided what chore to assign you to, so it might be a while. It just felt weird in there, I don’t know. Maybe I was just tense, but I never feel right when Choden is around. I can never tell how she’s feeling.”

“I know what you mean. There’s something off about all of them. Even when they’re not around it feels like they’re watching us, and that’s weird. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d trained the lemurs to spy on us, or something.”

Opal laughed. “Spirits, Maylin, there’s an image. Sister Guang does look like the type to have a pet lemur, though. She’d train it to bite people, probably.”

They entered the room in the dormitories where there were several tubs for bathing and, on one of the walls, a small mirror. “Alright. Enough about the forced subjugation of evil lemurs. Want me to cut your bangs first?”

“Sure,” said Opal. She stood in front of the mirror and got a glimpse of herself, her bangs falling down over her eyebrows, before Maylin stepped in front of her.

“I promise I won’t mess your hair up. I’ll only trim a little, and then you can take a look at it and see if you want me to do more.” She pulled a fine-toothed comb out of a pocket in her robes. “Fortunately I had the foresight to grab this earlier today. Well, here goes nothing.”

Opal closed her eyes, since she didn’t exactly feel like watching Maylin wield a pair of scissors near her face. “Don’t cut my face,” she joked.

“Har, har. I cut a few of my friends’ hair back in Omashu a few times. Never my own, though. That’s what I need you here for.” For the next minute or so the only sound was the quiet snipping just an inch or so from Opal’s eyes. “Alright, keep your eyes closed.” Opal felt a gentle blast of wind across her face. “There, now you won’t itch. You can look.”

Opening her eyes, Opal looked in the mirror. Her bangs looked a lot closer to how they did when she’d left Zaofu. Perhaps they weren’t as neat as they would have been if Opal’s old hairdresser in Zaofu had cut them, but she was still impressed. “They look great! Thank you, Maylin,” Opal said, and she beamed at her friend.

“You’re welcome. I knew you didn’t like that they were growing out. Anyhow, now it’s my turn.” They switched places in front of the mirror, and Maylin took a deep breath. “Alright. So for years I wanted to cut my hair short, but my mom never let me. I told you what she was like. She wanted me to be a proper lady.” She snorted. “As if _that_ was ever going to happen. Do you think you can help me with the back of it?”

Opal examined Maylin’s wavy brown hair, which fell nearly to the bottom of her shoulder blades. “I can try. How short are you thinking?”

Maylin grinned. “Short. Only a few inches. Ideally a bit longer on the top than on the sides. I really do wish I could go to a proper hairdresser for this. I doubt anyone here at the temple would be much help, though, everyone just lets their hair grow and grow.” She gathered her hair in one hand, and lifted the scissors. “Here goes nothing.” _Snip,_ and most of her hair fell to the floor.

“Well now you look more like me,” Opal said, and Maylin glanced in the mirror and laughed. “No bangs, though, and the wrong eye color. Do you want me to take it from here? I used to watch when the hairdresser in Zaofu would cut my brothers’ hair. Well, not Huan’s, his hair was longer than mine. But the twins and Junior both have short hair. I don’t think I’ll mess it up _too_ badly,” she smiled. “But if I do it grows back, right?”

Maylin handed over the scissors and grinned back. “Right. Do your worst. Anything will be better than having to brush all of the tangles out after airbending practice, honestly.”

It took some time to get the hang of it, but eventually Opal began to feel like she had a good idea of what she was doing. Trimming Maylin’s hair short was the easy part, but layering the sides was a bit harder. After about fifteen minutes, she figured she’d done her best and, after blowing the cut pieces of hair away, stepped back, the scissors in one hand and the comb in the other. “I think that’s it. What do you think?”

Maylin looked in the mirror, and her eyes widened. She reached up to feel it. “Spirits, Opal, it’s perfect. It’s fantastic. I love it.” She kept running her fingers through the short strands, adjusting her part so it was on the side. “If only we were in Republic City, hmm? I could totally be a fashion icon in the magazines. I’d skip the sparkly dresses, though. I do think they look amazing, don’t get me wrong, but dresses aren’t quite my style. That’s been the one good thing about coming here, I’m never forced to wear them anymore.” She met Opal’s gaze in the mirror and grinned. “I do think I feel more like myself than I ever have before. Thanks, Opal.”

“No problem,” Opal said, reaching and squeezing Maylin’s shoulder. “I’m glad you like it.”

There was then the sound of the door sliding open behind them, and they both turned to see who it was. Of all of the people in the temple, it was Kita, the girl who apparently disliked Jinora. She was carrying a towel and a bar of soap. “Pardon me, I didn’t mean to interrupt…” she trailed off, her eyebrows raising. She took in the scene; cut pieces of Maylin’s hair scattered around their feet, the scissors in Opal’s hands. “You cut your hair?” she asked, stunned.

“Yup,” Maylin said, lowering her hands from her head. “Is there a problem with that?”

Kita’s expression changed from shock to something that Opal could have sworn was anger. “It’s not done _._ I can hardly believe this. Perhaps you don’t understand our traditions because you weren’t born here, but they’re important to the Air Nation. Female airbenders don’t cut their hair until it’s time to receive their mastery tattoos. It’s an honored tradition for us.” She glared at Opal. “It was bad enough that you came here with that short hair of yours. Then again, I suppose it will have grown long by the time you’ve mastered airbending, _if_ you ever do.”

Opal returned Kita’s glare. “Excuse me?” She could feel the anger flaring up, hardening her spine.

“I was implying that it’s unlikely either of you will ever master your airbending. It’s about more than just being able to manipulate the air, you know. Masters are respected. They’re the best of us, the ones who ensure our culture lives on. Just because you became benders by a freak spiritual accident doesn’t mean you’re like us.”

“I’m just as much of an airbender as you are,” Opal said. She took a few steps forward to close the distance between them but Kita backed up immediately, fear quickly flashing across her features. “So what if I wasn’t born here? What makes you think you’re better than us?”

Maylin stepped forward and put a hand on Opal’s shoulder. “Opal. You’re still holding the scissors, and besides. She isn’t worth it.” She gently removed the scissors from Opal’s grasp, but Opal kept her eyes on Kita.

“True airbenders don’t resort to violence,” Kita said to Opal, raising an eyebrow. She’d composed herself again, though she’d freed one of her hands, Opal noticed. “But I suppose you wouldn’t remember that, would you? Perhaps you should have left, like that girl yesterday. At least she was smart enough to realize she didn’t belong here.” With one last dirty look at the both of them, she turned and left the room, sliding the door shut behind her.

A few seconds passed, and then Opal couldn’t take it anymore. “Ugh!” she huffed, pacing away from Maylin. “What’s _her_ deal?

Maylin was notably calmer, though she was frowning deeply. “Well, clearly she has some issue with us for not being born airbenders. I guess I should have expected something like that. Just because the nuns want us here doesn’t mean everyone does.”

“Why’d she have to act like she was so much better than us? Isn’t she basically my age? I see why Jinora hates her.”

“Yeah, so do I. Well, you can’t do anything about it. That’s okay, though. Opal. Look at me.” Opal stopped walking, and met Maylin’s eyes. “She’s a jerk, but it’s fine. You know she’s not right about anything. You even said that Cepla thinks you’ve got potential. This wasn’t about you. If anything, it was probably about her own insecurities. I mean, she hates Jinora. There’s gotta be a jealousy thing going on there.”

Opal pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’re right. She just got on my nerves. Ugh.” She looked back at the door. “Do you mind if I take the scissors back to the laundry? I think I need to walk this off.”

“Of course, go for it. I’m probably going to head back to my room. I’ll be there if you need anything, okay?” Maylin passed over the scissors, and Opal nodded. “Come on. People, miss prejudiced included, probably want to take baths.”

They went out into the hall, and Maylin gave her a smile. “Thanks for cutting my hair, again, even if it seems like I’m going to catch some grief for it. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” Opal replied, and then she left to return the scissors and calm her nerves.

***

“I still feel bad for not telling them.”

“Jinora, you can’t carry this guilt around forever,” said Luli, a worried frown spread across her face. The two were sitting together not far from their dormitories; Luli was seated with her legs crossed, and Jinora was sprawled on her back in the grass. “If you’re uncomfortable with what Opal said to you, talk to someone. It doesn’t even have to be a council member. Talk to Ayumi.”

Jinora wiped her palms across her eyes. “Ayumi doesn’t know Opal, though. No one really does, and that’s the problem. _I_ hardly know her. I’m just… worried.”

“Well, why exactly? Do you think she’s going to break the law?” Luli asked. “That would actually be a little worrisome. I don’t know what the council would do if she did.” In the one hundred and seventy-odd years since it was written, _no one_ had broken the law, _ever_ ; it was almost unthinkable, and yet completely possible. Nara’s decision not to join the Air Nation had only reminded them all of that.

Perhaps this was why Jinora couldn’t wrap her mind around the prospect. “I don’t know? It didn’t sound like she was going to. She seemed to have some serious reservations about joining the temple, though.”

“That’s inconsistent, considering she did make the vow. I liked her when we ate with her the other day. She was perfectly polite, even if she and Maylin don’t feel like they belong yet.”

“She is really nice, that’s the thing. And she had a point. It wasn’t exactly fair to Nara to leave her in the village, though I don’t know what else they should have done.” She sighed. “I don’t know.” They sat there in silence for a few moments, before Jinora sat up and stared at Luli. “Maybe that’s it? What you just said. Opal doesn’t feel like she belongs. It has to be hard, and yet she said that she does want to be here. So, she’s just out of balance.”

Luli nodded once, thinking it through. “You might be onto something. Perhaps her chi isn’t aligned? I could imagine that the stress of moving here and trying to adapt to our culture so quickly could affect that, though we don’t know if her bending has been suffering. I’m not sure she would even know, since she’s so new to having it.”

“Maybe that’s part of why she became so angry,” Jinora mused. “It could happen. Feeling out of tune with yourself affects all sorts of things. Perhaps she’s been frustrated with herself, and that’s why she lashed out.”

“Or she was just in a bad mood because she had to watch hopelessly as someone a lot like her was dropped off in the middle of nowhere,” a voice interrupted. Jinora and Luli looked up and saw Maylin looking out of the window of what must have been her room. It was getting too dark to make out most of her features, but it was still clear that she was frowning deeply. Jinora felt her stomach drop. “Not to eavesdrop or anything, but I don’t take well to gossip about my friends. Just a warning.” She leaned out the window a little more, and Jinora saw that she had cut her hair. “For the record, though, I don’t think anything about Opal is unbalanced. Her bending is fine and she’s doing her best. But while I can’t speak to what she said to you, Jinora, because I wasn’t there, I do know she’s sorry for having snapped at you. It wasn’t personal.”

Jinora couldn’t find her voice, but she nodded. Maylin gave her a curt nod back. “Well, now that that’s settled, I’m gonna tuck in. Have a good evening, ladies,” she said, bowing her head politely, and then she reached and closed the shutters of her window.

Jinora and Luli’s eyes met. “Perhaps we should just…?” Luli tilted her head in the way of the path, and they both stood up and went. When they were a bit farther from Maylin’s window, Luli said, “Wow. Well, I guess we deserved that. I don’t blame her for defending her friend.”

“Me neither,” Jinora said. They stopped and stared at each other. “Perhaps we were going a bit far. I guess I had it right earlier. I don’t know Opal all that well. I can’t even imagine what it must be like for any of them, really. It’s rude to make assumptions.”

Luli sighed. “The thing is, I _like_ both of them. The others are alright, too, but Opal and Maylin are close to our age, and I like them. Opal would be training with me if she’d been born here, and while Maylin definitely is… independent, she has the spirit of an airbender. I don’t know how, but it feels like she’s meant to be here. Both of them are.”

It had gotten dark, now, and Jinora realized it was probably nearing time to go to bed. “Did you see that she cut her hair? The council probably won’t be very happy. I wonder if she knows it’s one of our customs not to cut it.” Jinora began to walk back toward the front of the dormitories, and Luli followed.

“She must not have, or she just doesn’t care. At any rate, it’s too late now. It’ll be a long time before it grows back out again. I’d wonder why she did it, but then again, it’s Maylin.” They came up to the front steps. “I think I’m going to go to my room. You want to come along?”

Jinora shook her head. “I might sit out here for a while longer. I want to think some things through. Meet me in the morning for meditation?”

“You bet,” Luli said with a smile. “Good night, Jinora.” She went inside and Jinora sat down on the steps, staring out at the silhouettes of the mountains against the deep blue sky.

Her home, her beautiful home. She couldn’t imagine not having grown up at the temples. For so long it was she’d known, before first visiting the village. Even that had been a major culture shock. The first day she’d been petrified, practically clinging to her shopping partner’s arm. And even now she couldn’t imagine sleeping there; she knew she would be afraid. All her life she’d been taught that the world outside was dangerous for an airbender, and perhaps that was why it seemed so simple for Opal and the others to come to the temple. Because if they were airbenders, why would they want to be anywhere else? Why wouldn’t they want to be where it was safe for them, where they could learn and live and be happy? It had seemed like such an easy decision, but she was now realizing that it wasn’t.

She tried to imagine the Eastern Air Temple as it would appear to a newcomer. Large and imposing, probably. But even for being at the tops of mountains, it was a kind place. Quiet, and peaceful. Jinora loved the temple dearly. While she had run into some minor troubles in her life, she knew she was lucky. She was happy. And she’d always thought she was good at empathizing with others and their troubles, always willing to help if it was welcome. Yet she had so clearly gotten something wrong about Opal. Jinora didn’t understand her, and if she was being honest with herself, really hadn’t tried. She could still imagine Opal’s green eyes glaring at her, angry, hurt. She didn’t want to see them like that again.

So she would do better. She would reach out, and apologize. It was the right thing to do. And, if Opal was willing, she would try to become friends with her. Spirits knew she was probably lonely. And didn’t Jinora know all about that? She had Luli, of course, and Natsumi was always kind to her, and many of the other girls always waved or said hello. But she wasn’t _friends_ with many people, not really. And that was fine. She liked being alone. It was comfortable when she only had to rely on herself, when she didn’t have to worry about anyone else.

She was worrying about Opal, though. And it surprised Jinora greatly when, not fifteen minutes after she sat down on the steps, Opal came strolling down the path toward her.

“Hey,” Jinora said, and Opal looked at her. She could see the moment Opal recognized her; immediately she frowned and stopped walking. Jinora offered her a kind smile. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, I guess. Can we talk?” When Jinora nodded, Opal came closer and sat next to her, leaving a few feet between them. Around them the air was still the way it only was at night, when the mountain winds died down and one could hear every creak in the dormitory behind them, and the sounds of a lemur climbing in a nearby tree. “I wanted to apologize to you for yesterday,” Opal began. She was staring at her hands. “It wasn’t right of me to yell at you like that. It wasn’t your fault that any of that happened. I’m still angry about what happened to Nara, but I acted like you’d done wrong when you hadn’t. I’m sorry.”

Jinora met Opal’s eyes and gave her a small smile. “No, it’s alright. You were right that I don’t know what it’s like for you here. You were right about that. I didn’t understand how big of a deal it was that all of that was happening to Nara. I guess it just didn’t occur to me.” She signed. “Sometimes it feels like there isn’t much of a world outside of the temple at all. I mean, I know it’s there. I know a lot of facts about the world, actually, from geography to historical events, and basic knowledge about the different nations. I can name every Avatar going back for at least six elemental cycles. But I haven’t _seen_ the world, and that makes a big difference. So I’m sorry, too. I haven’t been through your experience, but I wasn’t trying very hard to sympathize, either.”

Opal was staring at her, surprised, perhaps. “Thank you. It’s… it’s fine. I know you meant well.” She stared back out at the mountains. “Sometimes I felt like that back at home. That the world was small, I mean,” Opal said, and the corners of her lips quirked up. “I almost never left Zaofu, so I really only ever paid attention to what happened there. Of course there were still newspapers and magazines, and radio broadcasts. And visitors. A lot of people came to visit my mom, she was kind of important, you know?” She sighed. “I knew the air temples existed, but I’d hardly imagined what they were like before coming here. It’s not always easy, and it doesn’t help that I inherited my mom’s temper. And her stubbornness.”

“It did kind of startle me when you began yelling,” Jinora admitted. Opal’s eyebrows raised, and Jinora shrugged. “Airbenders usually don’t—well, the airbenders who were raised here, most of us don’t usually express anger through yelling. Not that it’s bad, but it’s not what I’m used to. It just caught me off guard.”

Opal frowned. “I did say some pretty mean things. It just kind of came out in the moment, but that’s no excuse.”

Jinora watched Opal for a few moments. “Do you really regret coming here?” she asked, her voice quiet. “If you don’t mind me asking. You don’t have to answer. I wouldn’t be offended. I only want to understand you better. It’s so hard for me to even imagine, you know.”

“I…” Opal met her eyes, and seemed to struggle with what to say, her mouth opening and closing a few times before she lowered her head into her hands. Jinora waited patiently. She didn’t want to rush her. “Not all of the time,” Opal said, finally. She turned her head and looked at Jinora. She seemed a little afraid, which surprised her.

“But sometimes?” Was Opal afraid of her? At the very least she seemed nervous, though perhaps Jinora could understand why. “I won’t tell anyone what you say,” she added, softly. “I promise. Not even Luli.” The guilt from earlier washed over her, and she knew she meant it. She wouldn’t gossip about Opal again, or even Maylin, or any of the others.

She was more than capable of learning her lesson, but more than anything, Jinora didn’t want to betray Opal’s trust. She wanted to be worthy of it.

Opal’s eyebrows raised, but the tension in her features relaxed a little. “Thank you. I appreciate that. It’s just… every night I go to bed and I wonder why I said yes. I did and I’m stuck with it, I know. But how I even managed to leave my family is beyond me. Tenzin came and I just _knew_ I had to go, even though I was literally terrified. It nearly broke my heart, leaving my parents behind.” Her shoulders slumped and she brushed her hair away from her forehead. “I miss them so badly. I know you can’t imagine it, but I love my mom and dad more than anyone in the world. I was lucky, I had great relationships with them. We were close. Now all I can do is worry and hope that I didn’t hurt them too much by leaving.”

It was ironic, Jinora realized, that her own parent had been the one to take Opal away from her own. She wondered what Tenzin thought of his task of bringing new airbenders to the temples. Did they all feel the way Opal did? “I’m sorry,” Jinora said. “I can’t empathize with you, but I think I understand enough to begin to realize that I haven’t quite understood the whole picture of what you’ve been going through. Or the others, for that matter. But I’m sorry that this has been hard, even if I can’t speak to how it feels.” She paused. “I don’t know what to think about the council, though. With Nara, I mean. But I do hope she’s okay. I suppose I can understand why she decided not to stay with us. Like you, she probably had more to go back to than what she found here.”

Opal stared at her for a long moment, and then nodded. “Thank you, Jinora. I think…” she looked over her shoulder at the dormitory door. “I think I’m going to go to bed. It’s been a long day.”

“Of course. Good night, Opal. Thank you.”

Opal smiled at her, and it was perhaps the most genuine one she’d seen from her yet. “Yeah, no problem. Good night, Jinora.” She got up and went inside, leaving Jinora alone in the cool night air.


End file.
